Where does “cel puțin” come from?
cel puțin (Romanian) comes from Romanian cel, from Romanian acel, from Vulgar Latin *eccum ille, from Latin eccum, from Latin ecce, from Latin -ce, from Proto-Italic ke, from Indo-European *ḱe.
cel puțin (Romanian): at least
Ancestry of “cel puțin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Romanian | cel | that; the; the one |
| 2 | Romanian | acel | that |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | *eccum ille | — |
| 4 | Latin | eccum | behold him; here!, look! |
| 5 | Latin | ecce | see!, look!, behold!, points out something with... |
| 6 | Latin | -ce | affixed, usually to demonstratives, forming... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | ke | here |
| 8 | Indo-European | *ḱe | — |