English
phin
Phin comes from Vietnamese phin ‘a filter’, from Latin filtrum ‘felt’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-1reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fellą1‘skin, hide’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*felt1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfiltrum2‘felt’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfiltre3‘filter’
- Vietnamesemodernphin4‘a filter’
- Englishtodayphin4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin filtrum
- 2 Wiktionary, French filtre
- 3 Wiktionary, Vietnamese phin
- 4 Wiktionary, English phin
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-Wiktionary, Latin filtrumreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*felląWiktionary, Latin filtrum‘skin, hide’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*feltWiktionary, Latin filtrumreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfiltrumWiktionary, French filtre‘felt’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfiltreWiktionary, Vietnamese phin‘filter’
- VietnamesemodernphinWiktionary, English phin‘a filter’
- EnglishtodayphinWiktionary, English phin
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pel-
film, simple, simply, push, powder, fold, pulse, complain, pillow, repeal, flaw, pollen, palate, compulsive, expel, repel, palpable, palladium, propel, palatable, pall, pelt, wallow, peloton, polemic, tuple, palatal, pollinate, apoplexy, peplum, pulver, palp, pillion, interpolate, 62 more
through Proto-Germanic *fellą ‘skin, hide’
through Proto-West Germanic *felt
through Latin filtrum ‘felt’
Today it means
noun A type of coffee filter.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “phin”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin filtrum, French filtre, Vietnamese phin. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *pel- / phin