Where does “tornasol” come from?

tornasol (Spanish) comes from English turnsole, from French tournesol, from Italian tornasole, from Italian tornare, from Latin tornō, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος, from Proto-Indo-European torh₂no- — to rub, turn; to drill, pierce.

tornasol (Spanish): litmus; iridescence; sunflower

Definitions

  1. litmus; iridescence; sunflower

Ancestry of “tornasol”, step by step

tornasol traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English turnsole

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishturnsoleThe heliotrope; so named because its flowers are...
2Frenchtournesolsunflower; heliotrope; litmus
3Italiantornasolelitmus
4Italiantornareto return, come back
5Latintornōto turn
6LatintornusA turner's wheel, lathe; A potter's wheel
7Ancient GreekτόρνοςA tool similar to a pair of compasses used to...
8Proto-Indo-Europeantorh₂no-
9Proto-Indo-Europeanterh₁-to rub, turn; to drill, pierce

via Spanish sol

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishsolsun; sunlight; sunny side
2EnglishSolThe Sun, the star orbited by the Earth
3Old Frenchsolalone; sol; Old French coin
4Latinsolidumsolid
5Latinsolidussolid; A solidus: a Roman ~23-carat gold coin...
6Proto-Italicsoliðos
7Proto-Indo-Europeansolh₂-i-dʰ-o-sentire
8Proto-Indo-Europeansolh₂-whole

via Spanish tornar

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishtornarto return; to come back; to put back
Every word from Proto-Indo-European terh₁-