Where does “babysitter” come from?
Babysitter comes from English baby and sitter, with baby deriving from Middle English babe, baban, Old English baba, Proto-Germanic bō-, and Proto-Indo-European bʰā-.
babysitter (English): A person who cares for one or more babies or...
Definitions
- A person who cares for one or more babies or...
Ancestry of “babysitter”, step by step
babysitter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English baby
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | baby | A very young human, particularly from birth to a... |
| 2 | Middle English | baby | A child or baby |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |