Etymology Explorer › Spanish

Where does “cascanueces” come from?

cascanueces (Spanish) comes from Spanish nuez, from Vulgar Latin *nŏcem, from Latin nucem, from Latin nux, from Proto-Italic knuks, from Proto-Indo-European knew-, from Proto-Indo-European ken- — to arise, begin.

cascanueces (Spanish): nutcracker; madcap, harebrained young man

Definitions

  1. nutcracker; madcap, harebrained young man

Ancestry of “cascanueces”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishnuezwalnut
2Vulgar Latin*nŏcem—
3Latinnucemaccusative singular of nux
4LatinnuxA nut; A nut-tree; A fruit with a hard shell or...
5Proto-Italicknuks—
6Proto-Indo-Europeanknew-to scrape; scratch; rub; to scratch; scrape; rub
7Proto-Indo-Europeanken-to arise, begin
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ken- →