cedilla

Where does the word "cedilla" come from? It comes from Old Spanish zedilla, passing through French before entering English (1590s).

Cedilla’s story begins in Old Spanish: zedilla meant “little z.” 'little z': the mark began as a small 'z' written under a 'c' to show the 'ts' sound. By 1500s, the word had taken hold in French as cédille. French printers adopted 'ç', while Spanish dropped the letter in the 1700s. It reached English by 1590s as cedilla. Borrowed as a term of printing and grammar. Today, cedilla means a mark (¸) written under a letter, as in ç.

1. Stage 1 · Old Spanish · medieval zedilla "little z", 'little z': the mark began as a small 'z' written under a 'c' to show the 'ts' sound.
2. Stage 2 · French · 1500s cédille "cedilla", French printers adopted 'ç', while Spanish dropped the letter in the 1700s.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1590s cedilla "cedilla", borrowed as a term of printing and grammar.