Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “dashing” come from?

Dashing derives from Middle English -ing, Danish daske, Old English -ung, and Proto-Germanic -ungō, tracing a path through Germanic languages whose exact original sense remains unclear.

dashing (English): Spirited, audacious and full of high spirits;...

Definitions

  1. Spirited, audacious and full of high spirits;...

Ancestry of “dashing”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishdasshyngA strike with a weapon; The sound of a wheel...
2Middle EnglishdaschenTo hit with a weapon and cause damage; to land a...
3Danishdasketo slap, strike
4Serbo-Croatiandàska—
5Proto-Slavicdъskaboard, plank
6Proto-Germanicdiskuztable; dish; bowl
7Latindiscusa discus, quoit; a dish shaped like a discus;...
8Proto-Italicdiskōlearn
9Proto-Italicdikskō—
10Proto-Indo-Europeandi-dḱ-ské-ti—
11Proto-Indo-Europeandeḱ-take; perceive

Words derived from “dashing”

  • dashingly
  • dashingness
  • undashing
  • undashingly
Every word from Proto-Indo-European deḱ- →