Where does “caramelă” come from?
caramelă (Romanian) comes from French caramel, from Spanish caramelo, from Portuguese caramelo, from Latin calamellus, from Latin -ellus, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos, from Proto-Italic -elos — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
caramelă (Romanian): sweet (UK), candy (US)
Definitions
- sweet (UK), candy (US)
Ancestry of “caramelă”, step by step
caramelă traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French caramel
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | caramel | caramel, fudge |
| 2 | Spanish | caramelo | candy; caramel |
| 3 | Portuguese | caramelo | caramel; candy made of caramel; any candy |
| 4 | Latin | calamellus | A little reed or pen |
| 5 | Latin | -ellus | Alternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine... |
| 6 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
via Italian caramella
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | caramella | sweet (UK), candy (US) |
| 2 | Italian | caramellare | to caramelize |