Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “pinewinkle” come from?

pinewinkle (Middle English) comes from Old English pīnewincle, from Latin pina, from Ancient Greek πίνη, from Ancient Greek τηρέω, from Ancient Greek -έω, from Proto-Indo-European -éyeti, from Proto-Indo-European -yeti — Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots.

Ancestry of “pinewinkle”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishpīnewincle—
2Latinpinasea pen
3Ancient Greekπίνηpen shell; pearl shell, pearl
4Ancient Greekτηρέωto watch over, take care of, guard; to have an...
5Ancient Greek-έωUsed to form verbs from nouns, adjectives and...
6Proto-Indo-European-éyetiForms causative imperfective verbs from roots;...
7Proto-Indo-European-yetiCreates transitive imperfective verbs from roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yeti →