Where does “dreadfulness” come from?
dreadfulness (English) comes from Middle English dredfulnesse, from Middle English dredful, from Middle English dred, from Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan, from Old English ondrǣdan, from Proto-West Germanic andarādan, from Proto-West Germanic anda- — on, onto.
dreadfulness (English): The characteristic of being dreadful
Definitions
- The characteristic of being dreadful
Ancestry of “dreadfulness”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | dredfulnesse | — |
| 2 | Middle English | dredful | — |
| 3 | Middle English | dred | — |
| 4 | Middle English | dreden | — |
| 5 | Old English | drǣdan | to fear, dread |
| 6 | Old English | ondrǣdan | to fear, dread |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | andarādan | to be afraid, fear; to be in awe |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | anda- | against, opposing; in return, back; facing,... |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | anda- | against, opposing; un-, de- |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énti | opposite; near; in front |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énts | forehead; front |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ent- | face; forehead; front |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂en- | on, onto |