Where does “hint” come from?
hint (Dutch) comes from English hint, from Middle English hinten, from Middle English henten, from Old English hentan, from Proto-West Germanic *hantijan, from Proto-Germanic hantijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti — he, she.
hint (Dutch): hint
Ancestry of “hint”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | hint | A clue; A tacit suggestion that avoids a direct... |
| 2 | Middle English | hinten | — |
| 3 | Middle English | henten | to lay hold of, catch |
| 4 | Old English | hentan | to pursue; follow after; to seize; take; carry... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *hantijan | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | hantijaną | to fit; to pursue, follow |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |