Etymology

tonewheel

T1O1N1E1W4H4E1E1L1

Today it means: A mechanical apparatus, used principally in Hammond organs, that converts the spinning movement of an electric motor into electronic musical notes. Full definition →

English wheel ← Middle English whel ← Old English hwēol
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ten-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*tónos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*tónos
  4. Ancient Greekτόνος (tónos)
  5. Latintonus
  6. Middle Englishtone
  7. Englishtone
  8. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  9. Proto-Indo-European*kʷekʷléh₂
  10. Proto-Germanic*hweulō
  11. Old Englishhwēol
  12. Middle Englishwhel
  13. Englishwheel
  14. English todaytonewheel

From tone + wheel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.