Where does “tonttu” come from?
tonttu (Finnish) comes from Finnish tonni, from Swedish ton, from English ton, from French ton, from Old French ton, from Latin tuus, from Russian туз, from Polish tuz — to be able.
tonttu (Finnish): A miniature mythical humanoid creature believed...
Definitions
- A miniature mythical humanoid creature believed...
Ancestry of “tonttu”, step by step
tonttu traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Finnish tonni
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finnish | tonni | metric ton; grand |
| 2 | Swedish | ton | tonne; tone; tone, shade |
| 3 | English | ton | A unit of weight equal to 2240 pounds or 2000... |
| 4 | French | ton | Your, thy; Tone; Tone, shade |
| 5 | Old French | ton | your |
| 6 | Latin | tuus | your |
| 7 | Russian | туз | ace; bigwig; two-oar dinghy |
| 8 | Polish | tuz | ace; luminary, person of importance in their... |
| 9 | Polish | tu | here |
| 10 | Polish | być | to be |
| 11 | Polish | móc | to be able; may, might; to be allowed |
| 12 | Old Polish | móc | can, may, to be able to |
| 13 | Proto-Slavic | moťь | power |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | mógʰtis | — |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | meǵʰ- | to be able |
via Swedish tomte
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swedish | tomte | A small human-like creature in Nordic folklore... |
| 2 | Swedish | tomt | a ground lot, a parcel (of land), that has had, currently has or in the future will have a house built on it. It especially refers either to the land that directly surrounds the house (not uncommonly fenced), even if the total estate might be much bigger, or a legally delineated lot in town-like env |
| 3 | Old Norse | toft | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | tumþiz | seemliness, agreement; association, guild,... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | dem- | to build; to arrange, to put together |