Where does “damnedest” come from?
Damnedest comes from English damned plus the superlative suffix -est, from Old English -st, from Proto-Germanic -istaz, from Proto-Indo-European -istHos and -tós and -yoss.
damnedest (English): superlative form of damned: most damned;...
Definitions
- superlative form of damned: most damned;...
Ancestry of “damnedest”, 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 | — |