Where does “backbonelessness” come from?
backbonelessness (English) comes from English backboneless, from English backbone, from Middle English bakbon, from Middle English bak, from Middle English abak, from Old English onbæc, from Old English on, from Proto-West Germanic ana — on, onto.
backbonelessness (English): cowardice; spinelessness
Definitions
- cowardice; spinelessness
Ancestry of “backbonelessness”, step by step
backbonelessness traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English backboneless
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | backboneless | Without a backbone; invertebrate; Cowardly,... |
| 2 | English | backbone | The series of vertebrae, separated by disks, that... |
| 3 | Middle English | bakbon | The backbone or a part of it |
| 4 | Middle English | bak | The back, hind, or rear of a being's body; The... |
| 5 | Middle English | abak | backward, away |
| 6 | Old English | onbæc | backwards, back |
| 7 | Old English | on | on, in, at, among; from |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | ana | on |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | *an | — |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | ana | on, at; on, onto; ana |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂en- | on, onto |
via English Ness
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Ness | An Ulster princess and the mother of Conchobar mac Nessa and Findchoem in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Daughter of Eochaid Sálbuide. Also the mother of Cormac Cond Longas by incest with Conchobar mac Nessa |
| 2 | Middle English | nesse | — |
| 3 | Old English | næs | not, not at all; not; first/third-person singular... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | nasją | foothill; headland; cape |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | néh₂s | nose |