English
aquaplane
Aquaplane comes from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1925aquaplane
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂-‘flat’reconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1925aquaplane
Earliest quotation: 1925, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, New York: “At high tide in the afternoon I watched his…”
The story
The noun is derived from aqua- (prefix meaning ‘water’) + plane (‘flat or level surface’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (‘flat’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat’
field, floor, explain, palm, explanation, plain, planet, clan, archipelago, fluke, parma, explanatory, playa, flounder, placenta, planar, lech, palatine, polonium, pelagic, placate, esplanade, implacable, veld, flay, floe, plantar, purdah, llano, planta, 48 more
Today it means
noun A board on which a person stands to ride for leisure which is pulled on a water surface by a motorboat.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- / aquaplane