Etymology

wheelbase

W4H4E1E1L1B3A1S1E1

Today it means: The horizontal distance between the front and rear axles of a road or rail vehicle. Full definition →

English base ← Middle English base ← Old French base
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-redup.
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kʷekʷléh₂
  3. Proto-Germanic*hweulō
  4. Old Englishhwēol
  5. Middle Englishwhel
  6. Englishwheel
  7. Proto-Indo-European*gʷem-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*gʷémtis
  9. Proto-Hellenic*gʷə́tis
  10. Ancient Greekβᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)
  11. Latinbasis
  12. Old Frenchbase
  13. Middle Englishbase
  14. Englishbase
  15. English todaywheelbase

From wheel + base.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.