chute (n.1)

1725, American English, "fall of water" (earlier shoot, 1610s), from French chute "fall," from Old French cheoite "a fall," fem. past participle of cheoir "to fall," from Latin cadere "to fall," from PIE root *kad- "to fall." Meaning "inclined tube, trough" is from 1804; that of "narrow passage for cattle, etc." first recorded 1871. In North America, absorbing some senses of similar-sounding shoot (n.1).

also from 1725

chute (n.2)

also 'chute, short for parachute (n.), attested from 1919.

Entries linking to chute

parachute (n.)

"apparatus, usually in the shape of a very large umbrella, carried in an aircraft, that may allow a person or thing to drop to the surface below without injury or damage," 1784 (the year the first use of one was attempted, in Paris), from French parachute, literally "that which protects against a fall," hybrid coined by French aeronaut François Blanchard (1753-1809) from para- "defense against" (see para- (2)) + chute "a fall" (see chute).

PARACHUTE, a kind of large and strong umbrella, contrived to break a person's fall from an airballoon, should any accident happen to the balloon at a high elevation. ["Supplement to the Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences," Philadelphia, 1803]

shoot (n.1)

"young branch of a tree or plant," mid-15c., from shoot (v.). Also "heavy, sudden rush of water; a river-fall or rapid," especially one through which a canoe or timber can "shoot" (1610s); "artificial channel for water running down" (1707); "conduit for coal, etc." (1844). In some senses influenced by or confused with chute (n.1).

shute

*kad-

See all related words (4) >

Trends of chute

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

jump

1520s, "make a spring from the ground" (intransitive), a word with no apparent source in Old or Middle English, perhaps imitative (compare bump (v.)); another theory derives it from words in Gallo-Roman dialects of southwestern France (such as jumba "to rock, to balance, swing,"

slide

Middle English sliden, "glide, move smoothly and easily over a surface," also "to fall, lose one's balance through slipping," from Old English slidan (intransitive, past tense slad, past participle sliden) "to glide, slip, fall, fall down;" figuratively "fail, lapse morally, err;

descend

c. 1300, descenden, "move or pass from a higher to a lower place," from Old French descendre (10c.) "descend, dismount; fall into; originate in" and directly from Latin descendere "come down, descend, sink," from de "down" (see de-) + scandere "to climb," from PIE root *skand- "j

trough

Old English trog "wooden vessel, tray, hollow vessel, canoe," from Proto-Germanic *trugaz (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old Norse trog, Middle Dutch troch, Dutch trog, Old High German troc, German trog), from PIE *dru-ko-, from root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast," w

dive

c. 1200, diven, "descend or plunge headfirst into water," from a merger of Old English dufan "to dive, duck, sink" (intransitive, class II strong verb; past tense deaf, past participle dofen) and dyfan "to dip, submerge" (weak, transitive), from Proto-Germanic verb *dubijan, from

plunge

late 14c., plungen, "to put, throw, or thrust violently into; immerse, submerge," also intransitive, from Old French plongier "plunge, sink into; plunge into, dive in" (mid-12c., Modern French plonger), from Vulgar Latin *plumbicare "to heave the lead," from Latin plumbum "lead"

disk

1660s, "round, approximately flat surface," from Latin discus "quoit, discus, disk," from Greek diskos "disk, quoit, platter," related to dikein "to throw" (see discus). The American English preferred spelling; also see disc. From 1803 as "thin, circular plate;" sense of "phonogr

skid

c. 1600, "beam, log, or plank on which something rests," especially on which something heavy can be rolled from place to place (1782), of uncertain origin, probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse skið "stick of wood" (see ski (n.)). As "a sliding along" from 1890; s

gutter

late 13c., "watercourse, water drainage channel along the side of a street," from Anglo-French gotere, Old French guitere, goutiere "gutter, spout" of water (12c., Modern French gouttière), from goute "a drop," from Latin gutta "a drop" (see gout). Meaning "furrow made by running

shroud

Old English scrud "a garment, article of clothing, dress, something which envelops and conceals," from West Germanic *skruthan, from Proto-Germanic *skrud- "cut" (source also of Old Norse skruð "shrouds of a ship, tackle, gear; furniture of a church," Danish, Swedish skrud "dress

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updated on December 12, 2017

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