Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “ritournelle” come from?

ritournelle (French) comes from Italian ritornello, from Italian ritorno, from French retour, from French retourner, from Old French retorner, from Medieval Latin retornare, from Latin rĕ-, from Latin prōdūcō — passed , crossed.

ritournelle (French): refrain

Definitions

  1. refrain

Ancestry of “ritournelle”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italianritornellorefrain, chorus, burden; riff; same old story,...
2Italianritornoreturn; comeback; feedback
3Frenchretourreturn; second coming
4Frenchretournerto turn over, turn upside-down; to turn; to toss...
5Old Frenchretornerto return; to turn again
6Medieval Latinretornareto turn back
7Latinrĕ-—
8Latinprōdūcō—
9Latinprō-—
10Proto-Italic*pro-—
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
12Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
13Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
14Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →