Where does “Winter War” come from?

Winter War (English) comes from English War, from Middle English werre, from Old Norse verri, from Proto-Germanic wirsizô, from Proto-Indo-European wers-, from Proto-Indo-European wer- — to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel.

Winter War (English): A war between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1939 to 1940

Definitions

  1. A war between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1939 to 1940

Ancestry of “Winter War”, step by step

Winter War traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English War

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishWarPreceded by [[the#Article
2Middle EnglishwerreWar in general; the practice of fighting between...
3Old Norseverricomparative degree of illr, worse; worse
4Proto-Germanicwirsizôcomparative degree of *ubilaz; worse
5Proto-Indo-Europeanwers-to wipe; peak, height
6Proto-Indo-Europeanwer-to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel

via English Winter

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishWinterA placename
2Middle Englishwinterwinter
3Old Englishwinterwinter; year
4Proto-West Germanicwintruwinter
5Proto-Germanicwintruzwinter

via Finnish talvisota

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FinnishtalvisotaWinter War
2Finnishtalviwinter
3Proto-Finnictalviwinter
4Proto-Uralictälwäwinter
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wer-Every word from Proto-Indo-European wers-Every word from Proto-Germanic wirsizô