Where does “avant-midi” come from?
avant-midi (French) comes from French Midi, from Old French midi, from Old French di, from Latin diēs, from Proto-Italic djēm, from Proto-Italic *djous, from Proto-Indo-European dyḗws, from Proto-Indo-European dyéws — to be bright; sky, heaven.
avant-midi (French): morning time from sunrise to noon
Definitions
- morning time from sunrise to noon
Ancestry of “avant-midi”, step by step
avant-midi traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French Midi
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | Midi | Synonym of midi |
| 2 | Old French | midi | midday, noon |
| 3 | Old French | di | day |
| 4 | Latin | diēs | A day, particularly |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | djēm | accusative singular of *djous |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | *djous | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dyḗws | sky, heaven; sky god |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dyéws | sky, heaven |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | dyew- | to be bright; sky, heaven |
via French avant
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | avant | beforehand; earlier |
| 2 | Latin | ante | before, in front, forwards; before; before,... |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | κλίσις | bending, inclination; a lying down; a place for... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -σῐς | "suffix forming nouns" |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -τις | retained after dentals |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tis | Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots |