coast

coast · noun¹

1. Latincosta
2. Old Frenchcoste
3. Middle Englishcoste
4. English todaycoast

From Middle English coste (“rib; side of the body”), from Old French coste (“rib; side of an object; coast”) (modern French côte (“rib; coast; hill, slope”)), from Latin costa (“rib; side, wall”). Doublet of costa. Compare typologically cape < Latin caput, ness (akin to nose), Bulgarian нос (nos, “nose; …; cape, promontory, foreland, gore”), Macedonian ’рт (’rt), Serbo-Croatian рт (“cape, promontory, headland”) < Proto-Slavic *rъtъ (whence Russian рот (rot)).

coast · verb²

1. Latincosta
2. Latincosticāre
3. Old Frenchcostoier
4. Middle Englishcosteien
5. English todaycoast

From Middle English costeien (“to travel along a border or coast; to go alongside (something), skirt; to accompany, follow; to travel across, traverse; to be adjacent to, to border;”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman [Term?], Old French costoier (“to be at the side of”) […] (modern French côtoyer (“to pass alongside; (figuratively) to rub shoulders”)), from Latin costicāre, from Latin costa (“rib; side, wall”); see further at etymology 1.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 14th c. The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake.
• 15th–18th c. The side or edge of something.
• 14th–17th c. A region of land; a district or country.
• 14th–17th c. A region of the air or heavens.