equinox

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*nókʷts“night”
2. Latin · derived fromaequinoctium“equinox”
3. Medieval Latin · derived fromēquinoxium
4. Old French · derived fromequinoce
5. Middle English · inherited fromequinox
6. English todayequinox

PIE word *nókʷts From Middle English equinox, equinoxe, equynox (“one of the two periods in the year when the day and night are of equal length, equinox; either the zodiac sign Aries or Libra, in which the sun crosses the celestial equator”), from Old French equinoce, equinoxe (modern French équinoxe), or from its etymon Medieval Latin ēquinoxium, ēquinoctium, from Latin aequinoctium (“equinox”), from aequus (“equal”) + nox (“night”) (ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The Latin word, ultimately adopted in Middle English and modern English, displaced Old English efnniht (modern English evennight). The rare alternative plural form equinoctes treats equinox as if it were a Latin word; the plural of Latin nox (“night”) is noctēs.

Words from the same roots