quaintrelle

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵneh₃-“to know”
2. Latin · derived fromcognitus“known, recognized; acknowledged, noted”
3. Middle French · derived fromcointerel“vain”
4. Middle French · derived fromcointerelle
5. Middle English · borrowed fromqueyntrelle“person of fashion”
6. English todayquaintrelle

Borrowed from Late Middle English queyntrelle (“person of fashion”), from Middle French cointerelle, from Middle French cointerel (“vain”) + -elle, -ele (suffix forming feminine diminutive nouns), possibly influenced by quaint. Cointerel is derived from cointe (“clever, intelligent; quaint”), from Latin cognitus (“known, recognized; acknowledged, noted”), the perfect passive participle of cōgnōscō (“to be acquainted (with), recognize; to learn; to know”), from con- (prefix meaning ‘with’) + (g)nōscō (“to know, recognize”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”) + *-sḱéti (suffix forming durative or iterative imperfective verbs from roots)).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• apparently a single use in the mid 15th c.; revived in the 21st c. A woman who is focused on style and leisurely pastimes.