English
decant
Decant comes from French décanter ‘to decant, to clarify, to settle’, and goes back to Latin canthus ‘beak of a cup or jug’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanthus‘beak of a cup or jug’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dēcanthāre
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdécanter‘to decant, to clarify, to settle’
- Englishearliest quotation 1900decant
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanthus‘beak of a cup or jug’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dēcanthāre
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdécanter‘to decant, to clarify, to settle’
- Englishearliest quotation 1900decant
Earliest quotation: 1900, Sabine Baring-Gould: “Swincombe, formerly Swan-combe, runs to the north of the…”
Linked words
through Latin canthus ‘beak of a cup or jug’
Today it means
verb To pour off (a liquid) gently, so as not to disturb the sediment.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin canthus / decant