Where does “Seltenerde” come from?

Seltenerde (German) comes from German selten, from Middle High German selten, from Old High German seltan, from Proto-Germanic seldana, from Proto-Germanic seldanē, from Proto-Germanic seldanaz — rare, strange.

Seltenerde (German): rare earth

Definitions

  1. rare earth

Ancestry of “Seltenerde”, step by step

Seltenerde traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German selten

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanseltenrare, infrequent, uncommon, scarce; unusual,...
2Middle High Germanselten—
3Old High Germanseltan—
4Proto-Germanicseldana—
5Proto-Germanicseldanēseldom; rarely
6Proto-Germanicseldanazrare, strange

via German ërde

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanërdeearth
2Middle High Germanërdeearth
3Old High GermanerdaThe Earth; earth, ground, soil
4Proto-West Germanicerþuearth, world; earth, soil
5Proto-Germanicerþōearth
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁er-earth

Words derived from “Seltenerde”

Every word from Proto-Germanic seldanaz →Every word from Proto-Germanic seldanē →Every word from Proto-Germanic seldana →