Where does “hovedformål” come from?
hovedformål (Danish) comes from Norwegian Bokmål formål, from Norwegian Bokmål mål, from Dutch mal, from Old French mole, from Latin modulus, from Latin -ulus, from Proto-Italic -olos, from Proto-Italic -elos — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
hovedformål (Danish): main purpose
Definitions
- main purpose
Ancestry of “hovedformål”, step by step
hovedformål traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Norwegian Bokmål formål
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norwegian Bokmål | formål | an objective; a purpose; a cause |
| 2 | Norwegian Bokmål | mål | language, dialect; aim, goal, purpose, target,... |
| 3 | Dutch | mal | mold, cast; foolish, crazy, lacking common sense |
| 4 | Old French | mole | — |
| 5 | Latin | modulus | a small measure or interval; a module; a water... |
| 6 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
via Danish formål
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danish | formål | purpose, cause |
| 2 | Danish | mål | language; imperative of måle; goal |
| 3 | Old Norse | mál | language; speech; matter, affair |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | mēlą | measure, measurement; time, occasion; point in... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | melh₂- | to grind, to crush |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | mel- | soft; tender; weak; to deceive; to rub |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | mey- | to strengthen; to bind; to change, exchange |