Where does “Gleichzeichen” come from?

Gleichzeichen (German) comes from German gleich, from Middle High German gelīch, from Old High German gilīh, from Proto-West Germanic galīk, from Proto-Germanic galīkaz, from Proto-Indo-European leyǵ- — to bind, tie.

Ancestry of “Gleichzeichen”, step by step

Gleichzeichen traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German gleich

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germangleichequal; same; very similar; same; identical
2Middle High Germangelīch—
3Old High Germangilīhequal
4Proto-West Germanicgalīkalike, similar
5Proto-Germanicgalīkazalike, similar; equal
6Proto-Indo-Europeanleyǵ-to bind, tie

via German zeichen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanzeichensign, token
2Old High Germanzeihhansign, symbol, feature; sign, symbol
3Proto-West Germanictaiknsign, token, symbol
4Proto-Germanictaiknąsign, token, symbol
5Proto-Indo-Europeandeyḱ-to point out
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leyǵ- →