Where does “prairie” come from?
prairie (French) comes from Old French praerie, from Portuguese prataria, from Portuguese prata, from Old Portuguese prata, from Vulgar Latin platta, from Latin plattus, from Ancient Greek πλατύς, from Proto-Indo-European pléth₂us — flat.
prairie (French): meadow, grassland, pasture, prairie
Definitions
- meadow, grassland, pasture, prairie
Ancestry of “prairie”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | praerie | meadow |
| 2 | Portuguese | prataria | silverware; cutlery; plates, dishes collectively |
| 3 | Portuguese | prata | silver; one hundred cents of current currency... |
| 4 | Old Portuguese | prata | silver |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | platta | metal plate |
| 6 | Latin | plattus | flattened |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | πλατύς | wide, broad; flat, level; broad-shouldered |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pléth₂us | flat, broad |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pleth₂- | flat |