coto

The story

1. Latin · derived fromquattuor“four”
2. Latin · derived fromquārtus“a fourth”
3. Latin · derived fromcubitum“elbow, Roman cubit”
4. Spanish · borrowed fromcoto“half-span, quarter-cubit”
5. English todaycoto

From Spanish coto (“half-span, quarter-cubit”), supposedly a variant of codo (“Spanish cubit”), from Vulgar Latin forms of Latin cubitum (“elbow, Roman cubit”), but more probably a development of or influenced by Latin quārtus (“a fourth”) from its use as a fourth of the cubit or Latin quattuor (“four”) from its approximation of the span across four fingers.

Words from the same roots