Where does “canker” come from?
canker (Middle Dutch) comes from Latin cancer, from Proto-Italic kankros, from Proto-Italic karkros, from Proto-Indo-European kr̥-kr̥-, from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker-, from Proto-Indo-European sek- — to cut, cut off, sever.
Ancestry of “canker”, step by step
canker traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin cancer
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | cancer | a crab; a tumor, cancer; a lattice, grid, or... |
| 2 | Proto-Italic | kankros | crab |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | karkros | enclosure, barrier |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥-kr̥- | circular |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)ker- | to cut off; to turn, bend |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |
via New Latin cancer
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Latin | cancer | — |