Where does “fox-trot” come from?
fox-trot (French) comes from English foxtrot, from English trot, from Middle English trotten, from Old French trotter, from Medieval Latin trotto, from Frankish trottōn, from Proto-Germanic tradjaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą — he, she.
fox-trot (French): foxtrot
Ancestry of “fox-trot”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | foxtrot | A ballroom dance with a slow-slow-quick-quick... |
| 2 | English | trot | An ugly old woman, a hag; A gait of a four-legged... |
| 3 | Middle English | trotten | — |
| 4 | Old French | trotter | — |
| 5 | Medieval Latin | trotto | to go |
| 6 | Frankish | trottōn | to go, run |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tradjaną | to tread, trample |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 11 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |