Where does “cleanest” come from?
Cleanest comes from Middle English clene, Old English clǣne, Proto-Germanic klainiz, Proto-Indo-European gley-, gel-, gewl-, and ultimately gū-, tracing a semantic path through notions of smoothness and brightness.
cleanest (English): superlative form of clean: most clean;...
Definitions
- superlative form of clean: most clean;...
Ancestry of “cleanest”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | -est | Used to form the superlative of adjectives and... |
| 2 | Middle English | -est | Used to form the second-person singular present... |
| 3 | Old English | -est | suffix forming feminine nouns, originally from... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -istaz | -est |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -istHos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yōs | Forms adjectives from roots, meaning "very" or... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yoss | — |