Etymograph

English

ace

Ace comes from Latin as ‘unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEas‘unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400as
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500as
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1658ace

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEas‘unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400as
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500as
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1658ace

Earliest quotation: c. 1658, Dr. Henry More: “He will not bate an ace of absolute certainty.”

The story

Inherited from Middle English as, from Old French as, from Latin as, assis (‘unity, copper coin, the unit of coinage’), probably borrowed from Etruscan.

Linked words

through Middle English as

as

Today it means

noun A playing card showing a single pip, typically the highest or lowest ranking card in a game.

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

Etymograph / Latin as / ace

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