Where does “armful” come from?
Armful comes from Middle English -ful and Old English -ful combined with Proto-Germanic armaz, derived from Latin arma meaning weapons or tools, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂er-.
armful (English): The amount an arm or arms can hold
Definitions
- The amount an arm or arms can hold
Ancestry of “armful”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ful | Used to form adjectives from nouns. Full of,... |
| 2 | Middle English | -ful | Appended to nouns to form adjectives denoting... |
| 3 | Old English | -ful | full of; -ful |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -fullaz | -ful |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fullaz | full; the whole, the entire |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥h₁nós | full |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |