Where does “n’est-ce pas” come from?
n’est-ce pas (French) comes from French cé, from Spanish éste, from Latin iste, from Latin hāc, from Latin hīc, from Latin heic, from Latin hic, from Proto-Italic hek(e) — resin.
n’est-ce pas (French): Used as an expression of affirmation after a statement
Definitions
- Used as an expression of affirmation after a statement
Ancestry of “n’est-ce pas”, step by step
n’est-ce pas traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via French cé
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | cé | The name of the Latin-script letter C |
| 2 | Spanish | éste | this one |
| 3 | Latin | iste | that near you; those in the plural |
| 4 | Latin | hāc | this way; these; in this place (or way) |
| 5 | Latin | hīc | this; these in the plural |
| 6 | Latin | heic | — |
| 7 | Latin | hic | this; these in the plural |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | hek(e) | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰi-ḱe | this, here |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 11 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 12 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 13 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 14 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 15 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
via French pas
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | pas | step, pace, footstep; strait, pass; thread, pitch |
| 2 | Old French | pas | pace; step; Alternative form of past |
| 3 | Latin | pāstus | having eaten, consumed |
| 4 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |
via French n’
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | n’ | Prevocalic form of ne |