Etymograph

English

Rio Dell

Rio Dell comes from Spanish río ‘river’, from Classical Latin rīvus ‘brook, small stream’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- ‘to move, set in motion’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reyH-‘to move, set in motion’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃riHwósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rīwosreconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCErīvos
  5. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErīvus‘brook, small stream’
  6. Late Latinmodernrīus
  7. Old Spanishc. 950–1500rio‘river’
  8. Spanishc. 1500–presentrío‘river’
  9. EnglishtodayRio Dell

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃reyH-‘to move, set in motion’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃riHwósreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rīwosreconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCErīvos
  5. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErīvus‘brook, small stream’
  6. Late Latinmodernrīus
  7. Old Spanishc. 950–1500rio‘river’
  8. Spanishc. 1500–presentrío‘river’
  9. EnglishtodayRio Dell

The story

Coined in 1870 by Lorenzo Painter, owner of the eponymous Rio Dell Hotel, as a combination of Spanish río (‘river’) and English dell (‘a small wooded valley’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- ‘to move, set in motion’

ride, riding, raid, rin, irritable, irritate, ritter, ern, overridden, 12 more

through Classical Latin rīvus ‘brook, small stream’

rival, derivative, ria, derivation, 4 more

Today it means

name A city in Humboldt County, California, United States.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH- / Rio Dell

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