Where does “parachute” come from?

parachute (French) comes from French chute, from Old French cheüe, from Old French ceüe, from Latin cicūta — a plant, poison hemlock, probably either Conium maculatum or Cicuta virosa.

parachute (French): parachute device designed to control the fall of an object

Definitions

  1. parachute device designed to control the fall of an object

Ancestry of “parachute”, step by step

parachute traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via French chute

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchchutefall; fall, drop; waterfall
2Old Frenchcheüe—
3Old Frenchceüe—
4Latincicūtaa plant, poison hemlock, probably either Conium maculatum or Cicuta virosa

via Latin cadō

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latincadōto fall, to fall out
2Proto-Italickadōfall, sink
3Proto-Indo-Europeanḱad-to fall

Words derived from “parachute”

Every word from Latin cicūta →Every word from Old French ceüe →Every word from Old French cheüe →