Where does “c'est combien” come from?
c'est combien (French) comes from French c’est, from French cé, from Spanish éste, from Latin iste, from Latin hāc, from Latin hīc, from Latin heic, from Latin hic — whale, sea monster; abyss.
c'est combien (French): how much is it?
Definitions
- how much is it?
Ancestry of “c'est combien”, step by step
c'est combien traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French c’est
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | c’est | it is (used to define the preceding word) |
| 2 | French | cé | The name of the Latin-script letter C |
| 3 | Spanish | éste | this one |
| 4 | Latin | iste | that near you; those in the plural |
| 5 | Latin | hāc | this way; these; in this place (or way) |
| 6 | Latin | hīc | this; these in the plural |
| 7 | Latin | heic | — |
| 8 | Latin | hic | this; these in the plural |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | hek(e) | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰi-ḱe | this, here |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 12 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 13 | Russian | кит | whale; genitive plural of ки́та |
| 14 | Old Church Slavonic | китъ | whale |
| 15 | Ancient Greek | κῆτος | whale, sea monster; abyss |
via French combien
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | combien | how much; how many |
| 2 | Old French | combien | how much, how many |
| 3 | Old French | bien | well; indeed; possession; object of value |
| 4 | Latin | bene | well; properly, exactly; agreeably, favorably |
| 5 | Latin | bonus | good, honest, brave, noble, kind, pleasant;... |
| 6 | Old Latin | duenos | Alternative form of duonus |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | dwenos | good |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dew- | to show favour, revere; to fail, to lag, to be... |