Where does “breadwinner” come from?
Breadwinner comes from English bread and English braid, via Middle English -er, Old French -er, Latin -are, Latin -arius, and Proto-Indo-European bʰrēḱ-.
breadwinner (English): The primary income-earner in a household
Definitions
- The primary income-earner in a household
Ancestry of “breadwinner”, step by step
breadwinner traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English winner
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | winner | One who has won or often wins; A point or goal... |
| 2 | Middle English | wynner | A labourer or worker; One who overprices goods; A... |
| 3 | Middle English | -er | agentive suffix; agent noun suffix |
| 4 | Old French | -er | Alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;... |
| 5 | Latin | -āre | first conjugation |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -āō | Forms primarily denominative verbs |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -eh₂yéti | Creates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 10 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via English bread
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bread | A foodstuff made by baking dough made from... |
| 2 | Middle English | bred | bread, pastry; food, nourishment |
| 3 | Old English | bred | surface; plank, board; table, tablet |
| 4 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 5 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 6 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |