English
Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune comes from English rota ‘wheel’.
- English1500–presentrota‘wheel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1760Wheel of Fortune
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- English1500–presentrota‘wheel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1760Wheel of Fortune
Earliest quotation: 1760, Oliver Goldsmith, First President of the Ceremonial Academy at Pekin: “The vvheel of fortune turns inceſſantly round, and vvho…”
A compound of wheel + of + Fortune ‘the Roman goddess Fortuna’
Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos ‘wheel’
Proto-Germanic *hwehwlą ‘wheel’
Proto-Germanic *hweulō ‘wheels (plural of *hwehwlą)’
Old English hwēol ‘wheel’
Middle English whel ‘wheel’
English wheel
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep
…
Proto-West Germanic *ab
Old English æf
Old English of ‘from’
Middle English of
English of
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
…
Proto-Italic *fortūnā
Latin fortuna ‘fate, luck’
Old French fortune
Middle English fortune
English Fortune
Every English word from English rota
Today it means
name The mythological wheel turned randomly by Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fate, fortune, and luck, to determine people's fortunes which were thus unpredictable.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English rota / Wheel of Fortune