tampon

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*tappô“plug, tap”
2. Frankish · derived from*tappō“stopper, plug”
3. Old French · derived fromtape“plug, bung, tap”
4. Middle French · derived fromtampon
5. French · borrowed fromtampon
6. English todaytampon

First attested in 1848. Borrowed from French tampon, from Middle French tampon, a nasalised variant of tapon, a diminutive or augmented form of Old French tape (“plug, bung, tap”), from Frankish *tappō (“stopper, plug”), from Proto-Germanic *tappô (“plug, tap”). Cognate with Old High German zapfo (“stopper”), Old English tæppa (“stopper”). Doublet of tampion. More at tap.

Words from the same roots