Where does “once” come from?
once (Middle French) comes from Old French once, from Latin uncia, from Old French lonce, from Italian lonza, from Vulgar Latin luncea, from Latin lynx, from Ancient Greek λύγξ, from Latin canadensis — to turn.
Ancestry of “once”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | once | — |
| 2 | Latin | uncia | The twelfth part of something; twelfth; The... |
| 3 | Old French | lonce | lynx |
| 4 | Italian | lonza | loin of pork; a term used in the Middle Ages to... |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | luncea | — |
| 6 | Latin | lynx | A lynx |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | λύγξ | lynx; hiccup |
| 8 | Latin | canadensis | Canadian |
| 9 | Latin | -ensis | Of or from |
| 10 | Latin | arvum | field; farm land |
| 11 | Latin | colō | to cultivate the land, till, tend, take care of a field or garden |
| 12 | Latin | quelō | — |
| 13 | Proto-Italic | kʷelō | to inhabit |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷéleti | — |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷel- | to turn |