cable

The story

1. Latin · derived fromcapiō“to take, seize”
2. Late Latin · derived fromcapulum“lasso, rope, halter”
3. Old Northern French · derived fromcable
4. Middle English · inherited fromcable
5. English todaycable

Recorded since c.1205 as Middle English cable, from Old Northern French cable, from Late Latin capulum (“lasso, rope, halter”), from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”). Use of the term "cable" to refer to the USD/GBP exchange rate originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable.

Words from the same roots