Etymograph

English

tosheroon

Tosheroon may come from English caroon ‘crown, a 5-shilling silver coin’, from Latin corōna ‘chaplet, laurel, or wreath’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱorh₂-1uncertain
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκορώνη1korṓnē‘garland, wreath’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcorōna1‘chaplet, laurel, or wreath’uncertain
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentcorona2‘crown’uncertain
  5. English1500–presentcaroon2‘crown, a 5-shilling silver coin’uncertain
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1859tosheroon2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Italian corona
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tosheroon
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, J.C. Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang: “Half-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱorh₂-Wiktionary, Italian coronauncertain
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκορώνηWiktionary, Italian coronakorṓnē‘garland, wreath’uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcorōnaWiktionary, Italian corona‘chaplet, laurel, or wreath’uncertain
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentcoronaWiktionary, English tosheroon‘crown’uncertain
  5. English1500–presentcaroonWiktionary, English tosheroon‘crown, a 5-shilling silver coin’uncertain
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1859tosheroonWiktionary, English tosheroon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, J.C. Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang: “Half-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull,…”

The story

From 19th-century British slang, developed from or alongside tusheroon, of uncertain derivation from British slang caroon (‘crown, a 5-shilling silver coin’), from Sabir and (originally) Italian corona (‘crown’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. The term was either derived from or influenced by madza caroon, the British slang for the Sabir and Italian mezzo corona (‘half-crown’), possibly under influence from tosh (‘copper items; valuables’) above or from the half-crown's value of two shillings & sixpence.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱorh₂-

corniche, 9 more

through Ancient Greek κορώνη ‘garland, wreath’

crowning, corollary, 10 more

through Latin corōna ‘chaplet, laurel, or wreath’

crown, coronation, coronary, corolla, coroner, coronal, coronet, krona, 12 more

through Italian corona ‘crown’

corona, 2 more

Today it means

noun A half-crown coin; its value

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tosheroon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Italian corona. 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 *ḱorh₂- / tosheroon

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