Where does “ancille” come from?
ancille (Middle English) comes from Old French ancele, from Latin ancilla, from Latin ancula, from Latin -lus, from Proto-Italic -elos, from Proto-Indo-European -e-lós, from Proto-Indo-European -lós — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
ancille (Middle English): maidservant; handmaid
Definitions
- maidservant; handmaid
Ancestry of “ancille”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | ancele | maiden; unmarried woman; maid, servant girl; nun |
| 2 | Latin | ancilla | maid, slave-girl |
| 3 | Latin | ancula | maidservant |
| 4 | Latin | -lus | Alternative form of -ulus; diminutive suffix |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |