Etymology Explorer › Translingual

Where does “Sterna” come from?

Sterna (Translingual) comes from New Latin sterna, from English Stern, from English tern, from Middle English terne, from Old French terne, from Latin ternas, from Latin terni, from Latin ter.

Ancestry of “Sterna”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1New Latinsterna—
2EnglishStern—
3EnglishternAny of various sea birds of the family Sternidae...
4Middle Englishterne—
5Old Frenchternedull, dim
6Latinternasaccusative feminine plural of terni
7Latinternithree each; three at a time
8Latinterthrice
9Latinterr—
10Old Latintris—
11Proto-Italictrēsthree
12Proto-Indo-European*tréyes—

Words derived from “Sterna”

  • Sternidae
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes →