Etymograph

English

casque

Casque comes from French casque ‘helmet’, from Spanish cascar ‘to split’, and ultimately from Latin quatiō ‘to shake, agitate, batter, shatter, demolish,…’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquatiō1‘to shake, agitate, batter, shatter, demolish, overthrow, rend’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquassō1‘strike’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*quassicāre2‘hit, strike’reconstructed
  4. Old Spanishc. 950–1500cascar3
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentcascar2‘to split’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentcasco4‘helmet’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentcasque5‘helmet’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1764casque5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin quassicare
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Spanish casco
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Spanish cascar
  4. 4 Wiktionary, French casque
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English casque
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto: “He beheld his child dashed to pieces, and almost…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquatiōWiktionary, Latin quassicare‘to shake, agitate, batter, shatter, demolish, overthrow, rend’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquassōWiktionary, Latin quassicare‘strike’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*quassicāreWiktionary, Spanish casco‘hit, strike’reconstructed
  4. Old Spanishc. 950–1500cascarWiktionary, Spanish cascar
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentcascarWiktionary, Spanish casco‘to split’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentcascoWiktionary, French casque‘helmet’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentcasqueWiktionary, English casque‘helmet’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1764casqueWiktionary, English casque. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto: “He beheld his child dashed to pieces, and almost…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kuh₁t-yé-ti

pasta, paste, pastiche, patisserie, 26 more

through Latin quatiō ‘to shake, agitate, batter, shatter, demolish,…’

concussion, repercussion, zouk, 16 more

through Latin quassō ‘strike’

cashier, quash, fracas, casse, 5 more

through Spanish casco ‘helmet’

casco

Today it means

noun A helmet.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “casque”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin quassicare, Spanish casco, Spanish cascar, French casque. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin quatiō / casque

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