Etymology

backcross

B3A1C3K5C3R1O1S1S1

Today it means: To cross a hybrid with one of its parents. Full definition →

English cross ← Middle English bak ← Old English bæc
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeg-der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*baką
  3. Proto-West Germanic*bak
  4. Old Englishbæc
  5. Middle Englishbak
  6. Englishback
  7. Englishcross
  8. English todaybackcross

From back + cross.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.