Where does “breathy” come from?

Breathy comes from Middle English -y, Middle French -ie, Latin -ia, Latin -ivus, Latin -ia, Proto-Indo-European -kos, Proto-Indo-European -kos, ultimately forming an adjectival suffix denoting quality or state.

breathy (English): Accompanied by audible breathing

Definitions

  1. Accompanied by audible breathing

Ancestry of “breathy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
2Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
3Old English-iġ-y, -ic
4Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
5Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
6Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “breathy”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →Every word from English -y →Every word from Old English -iġ →
breathy — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer