Where does “Eselsbrücke” come from?
Eselsbrücke (German) comes from German esel, from Middle High German esel, from Old High German esil, from Proto-West Germanic asil, from Latin asellus, from Latin asinus, from Latin acinus, from Latin acies — sharp.
Eselsbrücke (German): mnemonic a mental technique to remember something, e.g. a sentence
Definitions
- mnemonic a mental technique to remember something, e.g. a sentence
Ancestry of “Eselsbrücke”, step by step
Eselsbrücke traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German esel
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | esel | ass, donkey |
| 2 | Middle High German | esel | — |
| 3 | Old High German | esil | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | asil | donkey |
| 5 | Latin | asellus | Small or young ass or donkey |
| 6 | Latin | asinus | a donkey, an ass; an ass, an idiot, a dolt, a... |
| 7 | Latin | acinus | a berry, especially the grape; the seed of a... |
| 8 | Latin | acies | sharp edge or point; battle line; battle,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eḱ- | sharp |
via Latin pons asinorum
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | pons asinorum | "literally", "the Bridge of Asses": the geometric... |
| 2 | Latin | pōns | A bridge, a construction or natural feature that spans a divide |
| 3 | Latin | fractus | broken, shattered, having been broken;... |
| 4 | Latin | frangere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 5 | Latin | frangō | to break, shatter |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰrēǵ- | to shine, shimmer |