Where does “alfa-kierre” come from?
alfa-kierre (Finnish) comes from Finnish kierre, from Finnish kiertää, from Proto-Finnic keertädäk, from Proto-Finnic keerä, from Proto-Uralic kerä.
alfa-kierre (Finnish): An alpha helix
Ancestry of “alfa-kierre”, step by step
alfa-kierre traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Finnish kierre
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Finnish | kierre | thread; worm; helix; whirl, spiral |
| 2 | Finnish | kiertää | to turn, twist, screw, rotate; to roll; to wind,... |
| 3 | Proto-Finnic | keertädäk | to turn; to spin thread |
| 4 | Proto-Finnic | keerä | twisted |
| 5 | Proto-Uralic | kerä | — |
via Finnish alfa
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Finnish | alfa | alpha; the Greek letter Α, α; alpha |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | ἄλφα | alpha, the name for the first letter Α, α of the... |
| 3 | Phoenician | 𐤀𐤋𐤐 | thousand; bull, ox, head of cattle |
| 4 | Proto-Semitic | *ʔalp- | thousand |