Where does “flatten” come from?
flatten (Middle English) comes from Old French flatir, from Frankish *flattjan, from Proto-Germanic flatjaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “flatten”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | flatir | to knock over |
| 2 | Frankish | *flattjan | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | flatjaną | To flatten, make flat |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 7 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |