Where does “metacarpal” come from?

metacarpal (Portuguese) comes from Portuguese -al, from Old Portuguese -al, from Latin -ālis, from Proto-Italic -ālis — forms relational adjectives.

metacarpal (Portuguese): metacarpal (any bone of the metacarpus)

Definitions

  1. metacarpal (any bone of the metacarpus)

Ancestry of “metacarpal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Portuguese-alappended to noun X, forms adjectives meaning “of...
2Old Portuguese-al—
3Latin-ālis—
4Proto-Italic-ālisforms relational adjectives
Every word from Proto-Italic -ālis →Every word from Latin -ālis →Every word from Portuguese -al →