Where does “choirboyish” come from?
choirboyish (English) comes from English choirboy, from English choir, from Middle English quer, from Old French cuer, from Vulgar Latin *corem, from Latin cor, from Proto-Italic kord, from Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr — heart.
choirboyish (English): Resembling or characteristic of a choirboy
Definitions
- Resembling or characteristic of a choirboy
Ancestry of “choirboyish”, step by step
choirboyish traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English choirboy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | choirboy | A boy chorister; A piously innocent person |
| 2 | English | choir | Singing group; group of people who sing together;... |
| 3 | Middle English | quer | A choir singers who musically accompany a liturgy |
| 4 | Old French | cuer | heart |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | *corem | — |
| 6 | Latin | cor | heart; soul, mind |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | kord | heart |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱḗr | heart |
via English ish
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ish | Pronunciation spelling of is; somewhat,... |
| 2 | English | -ish | Typical of, similar to, being like; Somewhat,... |
| 3 | Middle English | -ish | Alternative form of -yssh |
| 4 | Old English | -isċ | -ish |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -isk | Creates adjectives from nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -iskaz | Forms adjectives from nouns with the sense of... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -iskos | Characteristic of, typical of, pertaining to |