Where does “direful” come from?
Direful comes from English dire and Old English -ful, itself from Proto-Indo-European dwey- and Proto-Germanic fullaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁-.
direful (English): Fearful, terrible
Ancestry of “direful”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | dire | Warning of bad consequences: ill-boding;... |
| 2 | Latin | dirus | fearful; ominous; dreadful, detestable |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | deiros | — |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | dwey- | to fear |
Words derived from “direful”