English
cernuous
Cernuous comes from Latin cernuus ‘with the face turned toward the earth’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernuus‘with the face turned toward the earth’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005cernuous
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernuus‘with the face turned toward the earth’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005cernuous
Earliest quotation: 2005, Zadie Smith, On Beauty: “Walking up Redwood Avenue with its tunnel of cernuous…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-
hart, horn, cheer, grail, crater, migraine, cerebral, corny, carotid, cornea, procrastinate, cairn, cranium, cornet, keratin, cerebellum, cerebrum, rother, 51 more
Today it means
adj Inclining or nodding downward; pendulous; drooping.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- / cernuous