Where does “metre” come from?
metre (Old French) comes from Latin metrum, from Ancient Greek μέτρον, from Ancient Greek -τρον, from Proto-Hellenic -tron, from Proto-Indo-European -trom, from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr — Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
metre (Old French): to put, to place
Definitions
- to put, to place
Ancestry of “metre”, step by step
metre traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin metrum
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | metrum | a measure |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 4 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |