Etymograph

English

coast

Coast comes from Middle English coste ‘rib, side’, from Old French coste, from Latin costa ‘rib, side’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcosta1‘rib; side, wall’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400coste1‘rib; side; coast’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coste1‘rib; side of the body’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1526coast1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English coast
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Then Herod perceavynge that he was moocked off the…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcostaWiktionary, English coast‘rib; side, wall’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400costeWiktionary, English coast‘rib; side; coast’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500costeWiktionary, English coast‘rib; side of the body’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1526coastWiktionary, English coast. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Then Herod perceavynge that he was moocked off the…”

Linked words

through Old French coste ‘rib’

cutlet, 4 more

through Middle English coste ‘rib’

cost

Another origin of coast

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcosta‘a rib’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcosticāre
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400costoier‘to be at the side of’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500costeien‘to travel along a border or coast’
  5. Englishtodaycoast

Today it means

noun The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “coast”. 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 costa / coast

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