Where does “easy” come from?
Easy comes from Middle English esy, formed with the Middle English suffix -y from Middle French -ie, ultimately derived from Latin -ium and Proto-Indo-European -kos.
easy (English): Comfortable; at ease; Requiring little skill or...
Definitions
- Comfortable; at ease; Requiring little skill or...
Ancestry of “easy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | esy | Comfortable, pleasant; Convenient, suitable, fit;... |
| 2 | English | ease | Ability, the means to do something, particularly;... |
| 3 | Middle English | ese | Alternative form of eise; Physical comfort, or... |
| 4 | Old French | aise | Alternative form of eise; empty space, elbow... |
| 5 | Latin | adiacēns | adjacent, adjoining, neighbouring |
| 6 | Latin | adiaceo | I lie beside, at, near or next to; am adjacent... |
| 7 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 8 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 9 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 10 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |