English
escritoire
Escritoire comes from French escritoire, from écrire ‘to write’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kréybʰetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skreiβō‘to carve’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscriboas scrībere‘to write’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400escrire
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘to write’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentécrireas escrire‘to write’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentescritoire
- Englishearliest quotation 1838same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kréybʰetireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skreiβō‘to carve’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscriboas scrībere‘to write’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400escrire
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘to write’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentécrireas escrire‘to write’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentescritoire
- Englishearliest quotation 1838same form
Earliest quotation: 1838, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, (please specify the page): “To surprise him, by finding on his table the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti
through Proto-Italic *skreiβō ‘to carve’
prescription, transcript, scripture, inscription, conscription, shriver, scriptural, transcribe, ascribe, nondescript, conscript, inscribe, descript, 26 more
through Latin scribo ‘to write’
description, script, prescribe, scribe, scribble, shrift, scrivener, 37 more
Today it means
noun A writing desk with a hinged door that provides the writing surface.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kréybʰeti / escritoire