Where does “caseworker” come from?
Caseworker combines case, from Middle English cas, Old French cas, and Latin casus meaning "a falling or befalling," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European keh₂p- meaning "to seize," with worker, an agent noun from work.
caseworker (English): a social worker
Ancestry of “caseworker”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Case | abstract feature of a noun phrase that determines... |
| 2 | German | Käse | cheese; nonsense |
| 3 | Middle High German | kæse | cheese |
| 4 | Old High German | kāsi | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | kāsī | cheese |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | kāsijaz | — |
| 7 | Latin | cāseus | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kwat- | to ferment, become sour; to boil |