Where does “Papiertiger” come from?
Papiertiger (German) comes from German papier, from Middle High German papier, from Old French papier, from Old Catalan paper, from Latin papȳrus, from French -ine, from French -é, from Middle French -é.
Papiertiger (German): paper tiger
Definitions
- paper tiger
Ancestry of “Papiertiger”, step by step
Papiertiger traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via German papier
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | papier | paper material |
| 2 | Middle High German | papier | — |
| 3 | Old French | papier | to murmur |
| 4 | Old Catalan | paper | paper sheet material typically used for writing on or printing |
| 5 | Latin | papȳrus | papyrus plant |
| 6 | French | -ine | feminine singular of -in; female equivalent of... |
| 7 | French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular -er... |
| 8 | Middle French | -é | past participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n |
| 9 | Old French | -é | used to form past participles of regular -er... |
| 10 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |
via German Tiger
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Tiger | tiger |
| 2 | Latin | tīgris | tiger |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | Τίγρις | tiger |
| 4 | Old Persian | 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎠 | Tigris |
| 5 | Akkadian | 𒀀𒇉𒈦𒄘𒃼 | — |
| 6 | Sumerian | 𒀀𒇉𒈦𒄘𒃼 | as fast as an arrow |
via English paper tiger
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | paper tiger | A seemingly fierce or powerful person, country or... |
| 2 | Chinese | 紙老虎 | paper tiger |