Etymograph

English

faceplant

From face + plant (“place, set firmly”).

A compound of face + plant ‘place, set firmly’

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k-

…

Latin faciēs ‘form’

Late Latin facia

Old French face

Middle English face

English face

Latin planta ‘sprout, shoot, cutting’

Proto-West Germanic *plantu ‘plant’

Old English plante ‘young tree or shrub’

Middle English plante

English plant

The story

Originally skateboarding and snowboarding slang, a humorous variant of handplant, which is an intentional technique in these sports.

Today it means

noun The act of landing face first, as a result of an accident or error.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / faceplant