Etymology

eighthman

E1I1G2H4T1H4M3A1N1

Today it means: One of the forwards at the rear of a scrum formation who controls the ball at the back of the scrum and links to the back line. Full definition →

Middle English man ← Old English mann ← Proto-West Germanic *mann
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*oḱtṓw
  2. Proto-Indo-European*oḱtowós
  3. Proto-Germanic*ahtudô
  4. Proto-West Germanic*ahtudō
  5. Old Englisheahtoþa
  6. Middle Englisheightethe
  7. Englisheighth
  8. Proto-Indo-European*mon-
  9. Proto-Germanic*mann-
  10. Proto-West Germanic*mann
  11. Old Englishmann
  12. Middle Englishman
  13. English todayeighthman

From eighth + man, from the fact that this position is the rearmost of the eight forward positions.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.