Where does “Tonkünstler” come from?

Tonkünstler (German) comes from German Tonkunst, from German tōn, from Middle High German tōn, from Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος, from Proto-Hellenic tónos, from Proto-Indo-European tónos, from Proto-Indo-European ten- — to stretch, to extend.

Tonkünstler (German): composer

Definitions

  1. composer

Ancestry of “Tonkünstler”, step by step

Tonkünstler traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Tonkunst

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanTonkunstmusic
2Germantōnclay
3Middle High Germantōn
4LatintonusThe stretching or straining of a rope; A strain;...
5Ancient Greekτόνοςrope, cord; chord; tone, note
6Proto-Hellenictónosrope, cord; tension
7Proto-Indo-Europeantónossomething stretched; chord, fiber, string
8Proto-Indo-Europeanten-to stretch, to extend

via German Künstler

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanKünstlerartist
2German-lerused to create agent nouns, similar to -er
3German-erForms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to...
4Old High German-āriused to form agent nouns
5Proto-West Germanic-ārī-er
6Proto-Germanic-ārijaz-er
7Latin-āriuser
8Proto-Italic*-āziosForms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals)
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ten-