Where does “dreadnought” come from?
dreadnought (English) comes from English dread, from Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan, from Old English ondrǣdan, from Proto-West Germanic andarādan, from Proto-West Germanic anda-, from Proto-Germanic anda-, from Proto-Indo-European h₂énti — on, onto.
dreadnought (English): a battleship, especially of the World War I era,...
Definitions
- a battleship, especially of the World War I era,...
Ancestry of “dreadnought”, step by step
dreadnought traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English dread
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | dread | To fear greatly; To anticipate with fear; To be... |
| 2 | Middle English | dreden | To fear or dread |
| 3 | Old English | drǣdan | to fear, dread |
| 4 | Old English | ondrǣdan | to fear, dread |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | andarādan | to be afraid, fear; to be in awe |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | anda- | against, opposing; in return, back; facing,... |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | anda- | against, opposing; un-, de- |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énti | opposite; near; in front |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂énts | forehead; front |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ent- | face; forehead; front |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂en- | on, onto |
via English nought
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | nought | Nothing; something which does not exist; A thing... |
| 2 | Middle English | nought | nothing, none; not; iniquitous, wicked |
| 3 | Old English | nōwiht | — |
| 4 | Old English | ne | not; or, and not; "ne... ne..." is used to mean "... |
| 5 | Old English | ealles | completely, wholly, entirely; totally,... |
| 6 | Old English | -es | possessive marker, indicating that an object... |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -as | used in formation of adverbs |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ēs | Primarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -ess | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |