Where does “scintilla” come from?
scintilla (French) comes from French scintiller, from Latin scintillāre, from Latin scintilla, from Proto-Indo-European ski-nto-, from Proto-Indo-European skey-, from Proto-Indo-European sek- — to cut, cut off, sever.
scintilla (French): third-person singular past historic of scintiller
Definitions
- third-person singular past historic of scintiller
Ancestry of “scintilla”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | scintiller | to sparkle, twinkle |
| 2 | Latin | scintillāre | — |
| 3 | Latin | scintilla | spark; glimmer |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | ski-nto- | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | skey- | to split, to dissect |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |