Where does “Wellenbrecher” come from?

Wellenbrecher (German) comes from German welle, from Middle High German wëlle, from Old High German wella, from Proto-West Germanic wallan, from Proto-Germanic wallaną, from Proto-Indo-European wēlH-, from Proto-Indo-European welH- — to turn, to wind.

Wellenbrecher (German): breakwater

Definitions

  1. breakwater

Ancestry of “Wellenbrecher”, step by step

Wellenbrecher traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German welle

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanwelleinflection of wellen: ## first-person singular...
2Middle High Germanwëlle
3Old High Germanwellasource
4Proto-West Germanicwallanto well up, spring out, bubble forth
5Proto-Germanicwallanąto well up, spring out, bubble forth
6Proto-Indo-EuropeanwēlH-to roll, to undulate
7Proto-Indo-EuropeanwelH-to turn, to wind

via German Brecher

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