Etymology

chairlift

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Today it means: A continuously moving series of open seats, slung from overhead cables, used to transport people (especially skiers) up the sides of mountains. Full definition →

English lift ← Middle English chayere ← Old French chaiere
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Indo-European*ḱm̥-th₂der.?
  4. Proto-Hellenic*kətá
  5. Ancient Greekκατά (katá)
  6. Proto-Indo-European*sed-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*sedreh₂
  8. Proto-Hellenic*hédrā
  9. Ancient Greekἕδρα (hédra)
  10. Ancient Greekκᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)
  11. Latincathedra
  12. Old Frenchchaiere
  13. Middle Englishchayere
  14. Englishchair
  15. Englishlift
  16. English todaychairlift

From chair + lift.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.