Where does “triangle” come from?
triangle (Middle English) comes from Old French triangle, from Latin triangulum, from Latin triangulus, from Latin Angulus, from Proto-Indo-European h₂engulos, from Proto-Indo-European h₂eng- — curve, bend.
Ancestry of “triangle”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | triangle | — |
| 2 | Latin | triangulum | triangle; nominative neuter singular of... |
| 3 | Latin | triangulus | triangular, three-cornered, three-sided;... |
| 4 | Latin | Angulus | A city of the Vestini, situated on a hill near the Adriatic Sea, now the town of Città Sant'Angelo |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂engulos | joint? |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eng- | curve, bend |