English

kickdown

Deverbal from kick down.

A compound of kick + down

Proto-Germanic *kaikaz ‘bent backwards’

Old Norse kikna ‘to sink at the knees’

Middle English kyken ‘to strike out with the foot’

English kick

Old English dūne ‘down’

Middle English doun

English down

Today it means

noun In a vehicle with automatic transmission, a downshift triggered by pressing down the throttle pedal.

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

Etymograph / kickdown