Where does “cranky” come from?

Cranky derives from English crank plus the Middle English suffix -y, which came from Middle French -ie, ultimately tracing through Latin -ia and -ivus formations to Proto-Indo-European -kos.

cranky (English): Weak, unwell; Not in good working condition;...

Definitions

  1. Weak, unwell; Not in good working condition;...

Ancestry of “cranky”, 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 “cranky

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱosEvery word from English -yEvery word from Old English -iġ