Where does “quatrefoil” come from?
quatrefoil (Old French) comes from Old French quatre, from Latin quattŭor, from Portuguese quarto, from Old Portuguese quarto, from Latin quārtus, from Proto-Indo-European kʷeturtos, from Proto-Indo-European kʷetwóres, from Proto-Indo-European kʷe- — and.
Ancestry of “quatrefoil”, step by step
quatrefoil traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old French quatre
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | quatre | four |
| 2 | Latin | quattŭor | four; 4 |
| 3 | Portuguese | quarto | ordinal form of quatro; fourth; quarter; fourth;... |
| 4 | Old Portuguese | quarto | quarter |
| 5 | Latin | quārtus | fourth |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷeturtos | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷetwóres | four |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷe- | and |
via Old French foil
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | foil | leaf |
| 2 | Latin | folium | a leaf; a petal; a sheet or leaf of paper |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | *foljom | — |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰolh₃yom | leaf |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃- | bloom, flower |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |