Where does “wereldverbeteraar” come from?
wereldverbeteraar (Dutch) comes from German Weltverbesserer, from German Verbesserer, from German verbessern, from German bessern, from German besser, from German Besserwisser, from German wissen, from Middle High German wiȥȥen — to see.
wereldverbeteraar (Dutch): social reformer; do-gooder
Definitions
- social reformer; do-gooder
Ancestry of “wereldverbeteraar”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Weltverbesserer | do-gooder |
| 2 | German | Verbesserer | improver |
| 3 | German | verbessern | to improve; to correct |
| 4 | German | bessern | to improve, to better |
| 5 | German | besser | comparative degree of gut; better; inflection of... |
| 6 | German | Besserwisser | know-it-all, wiseguy, wiseacre, smart aleck |
| 7 | German | wissen | to know; to be aware of; to remember |
| 8 | Middle High German | wiȥȥen | to know |
| 9 | Old High German | wiȥȥan | to know |
| 10 | Proto-West Germanic | wītan | to accuse, to blame |
| 11 | Proto-Germanic | *witaną | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | wóyde | to have seen, to know |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | weyd- | to see |