English
cone
Cone comes from Middle English cone ‘corner, angle’, and goes back to Ancient Greek κῶνος ‘cone, spinning top, pine cone’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκῶνος1kônos‘cone, spinning top, pine cone’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cōnus1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cone1‘corner, angle’
- Englishearliest quotation 1971cone1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English cone
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1971, United States. Congress. House Appropria: “Under the old method the material coned at the…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκῶνοςWiktionary, English conekônos‘cone, spinning top, pine cone’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cōnusWiktionary, English cone
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coneWiktionary, English cone‘corner, angle’
- Englishearliest quotation 1971coneWiktionary, English cone. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1971, United States. Congress. House Appropria: “Under the old method the material coned at the…”
The story
Reinforced by Middle French cone, from the same Graeco-Latin source.
Linked words
through Ancient Greek κῶνος ‘cone, spinning top, pine cone’
through Medieval Latin cōnus
Today it means
noun A surface of revolution formed by rotating a segment of a line around another line that intersects the first line.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek κῶνος / cone