Where does “miner” come from?
miner (Romanian) comes from French mineur, from French miner, from French mine, from Breton min, from Italian mina, from Latin mina, from Gaulish mēnā, from Proto-Celtic *meinis — to cut, hew.
miner (Romanian): miner
Ancestry of “miner”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | mineur | minor; a minor; a miner |
| 2 | French | miner | to mine, exploit natural riches; to undermine; to... |
| 3 | French | mine | mine; pencil lead; piledriver, scorcher |
| 4 | Breton | min | face of an animal; beak, muzzle |
| 5 | Italian | mina | mine, land mine; lead in pencils; mine which... |
| 6 | Latin | mina | A Greek weight equal to 100 drachmas; A Greek... |
| 7 | Gaulish | mēnā | ore, mine |
| 8 | Proto-Celtic | *meinis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | mēy(H)nis | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)mēy(H)- | to cut, hew |