English
cienega
Cienega comes from Spanish ciénaga ‘marsh, swamp’, and goes back to Latin caenum ‘silt’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaenum‘silt’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*caenicareconstructed
- Spanishc. 1500–presentciénagaas ciénega‘marsh, swamp’
- Englishtodaycienega
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaenum‘silt’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*caenicareconstructed
- Spanishc. 1500–presentciénagaas ciénega‘marsh, swamp’
- Englishtodaycienega
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱweyn- ‘to soil’
Today it means
noun A marshy spring where groundwater bubbles to the surface.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin caenum / cienega