Where does “daresay” come from?
Daresay is an English phrase combining dare and say, originally meaning to venture or presume to assert something.
daresay (English): "Chiefly in the form" I daresay: to say something...
Definitions
- "Chiefly in the form" I daresay: to say something...
Ancestry of “daresay”, step by step
daresay traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English say
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | say | To pronounce; To recite; To tell, either verbally... |
| 2 | English | assay | Trial, attempt; Examination and determination;... |
| 3 | Middle English | assay | Examining; investigation, looking into, research;... |
| 4 | Anglo-Norman | assaier | Alternative form of essaier |
| 5 | Old French | essai | trial |
| 6 | Late Latin | exagium | weight; weighing, testing on the balance;... |
| 7 | Latin | exigō | to drive out; expel |
| 8 | Latin | agō | to act, to behave |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | agō | drive; push, impel; do, act |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂éǵeti | to be driving |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eǵ- | to drive |
via English dare
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | dare | To have enough courage; To defy or challenge; To... |
| 2 | Middle English | durren | To dare, be willing to do in the face of... |
| 3 | Old English | durran | to dare |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | durʀan | to dare |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | durzaną | to dare |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰedʰórse | to dare |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰers- | to be bold, to dare |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰer- | to support; to hold |