English
stellionate
Stellionate comes from Latin stellionatus ‘cozenage, trickery’, from stellio ‘a newt, a crafty, knavish person’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr ‘star’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂stḗr‘star’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stērlā‘star’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstēlla‘star’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEstellio‘a newt, a crafty, knavish person’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEstellionatus‘cozenage, trickery’
- Englishearliest quotation 1754stellionate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂stḗr‘star’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*stērlā‘star’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstēlla‘star’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEstellio‘a newt, a crafty, knavish person’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEstellionatus‘cozenage, trickery’
- Englishearliest quotation 1754stellionate
Earliest quotation: 1754, John Erskine of Carnock: “The crime of stellionate[…]includes every fraud which is not…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr ‘star’
star, disaster, sterling, asteroid, astral, asterisk, aster, 24 more
through Latin stēlla ‘star’
Today it means
noun Any fraud not distinguished by a more special name; chiefly applied to sales of the same property to two different persons, or selling that for one's own which belongs to another, etc.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr / stellionate