Where does “eat away at” come from?
eat away at (English) comes from English AT, from Middle English at, from Old English æt, from Proto-Turkic āt, from Proto-Germanic ētą, from Proto-Germanic etaną, from Proto-Indo-European h₁édti, from Proto-Indo-European h₁ed- — to eat.
eat away at (English): To erode
Definitions
- To erode
Ancestry of “eat away at”, step by step
eat away at traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English AT
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | AT | Initialism of assistive technology; Initialism of... |
| 2 | Middle English | at | at; to |
| 3 | Old English | æt | eating; at a certain place; at a certain time |
| 4 | Proto-Turkic | āt | name |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | ētą | the act of eating; food |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | etaną | to eat |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁édti | to eat |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁ed- | to eat |
via English eat away
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | eat away | To physically corrode or erode (something) gradually |
| 2 | English | eat | To ingest |
| 3 | English | -able | An adjectival suffix; forms adjectives meaning |
| 4 | Middle English | -able | able |
| 5 | Old French | -able | worthy of, deserving of; -ing, creating an... |
| 6 | Latin | -ābilis | suffixed to noun to form adjectives meaning "able to have or bring, prone to have or bring, having the power to have or bring": -able |