Where does “terne” come from?
terne (Middle English) comes from Old French terne, from Latin ternas, from Latin terni, from Latin ter, from Latin terr, from Old Latin tris, from Proto-Italic trēs, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.
Ancestry of “terne”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | terne | dull, dim |
| 2 | Latin | ternas | accusative feminine plural of terni |
| 3 | Latin | terni | three each; three at a time |
| 4 | Latin | ter | thrice |
| 5 | Latin | terr | — |
| 6 | Old Latin | tris | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | trēs | three |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | *tréyes | — |
Words derived from “terne”