Where does “grisle” come from?
grisle (Middle French) comes from Old French graïlle, from Occitan gralha, from Vulgar Latin gracla, from Latin grācula, from Latin -a, from Proto-Italic -ā, from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂.
Ancestry of “grisle”, step by step
grisle traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old French graïlle
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | graïlle | grate, grating |
| 2 | Occitan | gralha | crow |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | gracla | — |
| 4 | Latin | grācula | (female) jackdaw (Coloeus monedula) |
| 5 | Latin | -a | suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -ā | Forms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₂ | — |