English
cable
Cable comes from Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum ‘lasso, rope’, from Latin capiō ‘to take, seize’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō‘to take’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcapulum‘lasso’
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400cable‘cable, rope’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a cable or strong rope’
- Englishearliest quotation 1851same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō‘to take’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcapulum‘lasso’
- Old Northern Frenchc. 842–1400cable‘cable, rope’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a cable or strong rope’
- Englishearliest quotation 1851same form
Earliest quotation: 1851, Herman Melville, The Whale: “And now the time of tide has come; the…”
The story
Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (‘lasso, rope, halter’), from Latin capiō (‘to take, seize’). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kap-
had, head, except, heavy, capital, behavior, chapter, captain, achieve, catch, heavily, capacity, escape, chef, occupation, acceptance, haven, chapel, behave, cape, hawk, capitol, precipitation, cattle, capita, cabin, captive, chaplain, conceive, captivity, mischief, mischievous, cad, haves, chieftain, precipitate, capillary, occipital, conceivable, heaviness, 138 more
through Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti ‘to be grasping’
through Proto-Italic *kapjō ‘to take, seize’
case, chassis, cashier, capsule, cassette, casket, kas, cajon, chasse, 27 more
through Archaic Latin kapiō
acceptable, imperceptible, 23 more
through Latin capiō ‘to take, seize’
accept, receive, cash, chase, cop, recipe, reception, capture, perception, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, capable, deception, caption, deceive, deceptive, susceptible, cater, deceit, preoccupation, captivate, captor, preceptor, receivable, perceptible, sashay, 25 more
Today it means
noun A strong, large-diameter wire or rope, or something resembling such a rope.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin capiō / cable