Where does “bigwigism” come from?
bigwigism (English) comes from English ism, from English -ism, from Latin -ismus, from Ancient Greek -ισμός, from Ancient Greek -μός, from Proto-Indo-European -mós — Creates action/result nouns from verb stems.
Ancestry of “bigwigism”, step by step
bigwigism traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English ism
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ism | An ideology, system of thought, or practice that... |
| 2 | English | -ism | Used to form nouns of action or process or result... |
| 3 | Latin | -ismus | -ism |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -ισμός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -μός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -mós | Creates action/result nouns from verb stems |
via English bigwig
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bigwig | A person of importance to a group or organization |
| 2 | English | wig | A head of real or synthetic hair worn on the head... |
| 3 | English | periwig | A wig, especially any kind of stylised wig as... |
| 4 | French | perruque | wig; wig, periwig, peruke |
| 5 | Italian | perrucca | Alternative form of parrucca |
| 6 | Italian | parrucca | wig |