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Tile

3 stages from Latin to English.

Today it means a thin slab used to cover roofs, floors or walls

Where does the word "tile" come from? It comes from Latin tegula, passing through Old English before entering English (1300s).

tegula→tigele→tile

Latin · classical

from tegere 'to cover'; roof tiles made by the army were often stamped with the legion's number

Old English · medieval

Anglo-Saxons knew tiles mostly from Roman ruins; St Albans Abbey's tower, built from the 1070s, reuses thousands of Roman bricks and tiles from Verulamium

English · 1300s

"flat covering slab"

the i-sound came from a shortened form tigle, as in German Ziegel 'brick'

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Read the full story

Tile’s story begins in Latin: tegula meant “roof tile.” From tegere 'to cover'; roof tiles made by the army were often stamped with the legion's number. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old English as tigele. Anglo-Saxons knew tiles mostly from Roman ruins; St Albans Abbey's tower, built from the 1070s, reuses thousands of Roman bricks and tiles from Verulamium. It reached English by 1300s as tile. The i-sound came from a shortened form tigle, as in German Ziegel 'brick'. Today, tile means a thin slab used to cover roofs, floors or walls.