Where does “pavement” come from?
pavement (Old French) comes from Old French paver, from Vulgar Latin pavare, from Latin pavio, from Proto-Indo-European peh₂w- — few, little; smallness.
pavement (Old French): a paved room
Definitions
- a paved room
Ancestry of “pavement”, step by step
pavement traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old French paver
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | paver | to pave, to cover |
| 2 | Vulgar Latin | pavare | to beat down, to smash |
| 3 | Latin | pavio | I beat, strike; I ram; I tread down |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | peh₂w- | few, little; smallness |
via Latin pavīmentum
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | pavīmentum | a floor composed of small stones beaten down |