Where does “Petey” come from?
Petey is a diminutive form of Pete, derived through Middle English -y, Middle French -ie, Latin -ia, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -kos, a suffix used to form diminutives and agent nouns.
Ancestry of “Petey”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 2 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 3 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |