Where does “autopista” come from?
autopista (Spanish) comes from Spanish pista, from Italian pista, from Italian pesta, from Italian pestare, from Latin pisto, from Latin pīnsō, from Spanish pienso, from Latin pēnsum — to stretch.
autopista (Spanish): motorway, freeway
Definitions
- motorway, freeway
Ancestry of “autopista”, step by step
autopista traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Spanish pista
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | pista | track, course, trail; runway; clue |
| 2 | Italian | pista | track, trail, scent, clue; track, racetrack,... |
| 3 | Italian | pesta | footprint; mess, trouble; third-person singular... |
| 4 | Italian | pestare | to crush, grind, pound; to trample, step on,... |
| 5 | Latin | pisto | to pound |
| 6 | Latin | pīnsō | to beat, pound |
| 7 | Spanish | pienso | animal feed; thought |
| 8 | Latin | pēnsum | allotment, portion, weight (of wool measured out to a slave to spin in a day) |
| 9 | Latin | pendō | to weigh, weigh out |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | pendō | hang, put in a hanging position |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)péndeti | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)pend- | to stretch |
via Spanish auto
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | auto | car, automobile; order, writ, resolution |
| 2 | Spanish | automóvil | automobile |
| 3 | Russian | автомоби́ль | car, automobile, motorcar |
| 4 | French | automobile | automotive; automobile |
| 5 | French | auto- | auto- regarding oneself |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | αὐτο- | self- |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | αὐτός | αὐτή f, αὐτό n; "first/second declension";... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ew | away from, off; again |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰe | Postpositional intensifying particle: indeed, at any rate, in fact |