Where does “falsehood” come from?
Falsehood comes from Middle English falshede, from the Middle English suffix -hede combined with Middle English falsh, from Latin falsus meaning "deceived or deceptive," ultimately from Proto-Italic falsō.
falsehood (English): The property of being false; A false statement,...
Definitions
- The property of being false; A false statement,...
Ancestry of “falsehood”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | falshede | falseness; falsehood |
| 2 | Middle English | hede | Alternative form of hod; Alternative form of heed |
| 3 | Middle English | hēden | — |
| 4 | Old English | hēdan | to heed, take care, observe, attend, guard, take... |
| 5 | Old Norse | héðan | hence |
| 6 | Old Norse | hér | here |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | hē₂r | here, in this place |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 9 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 10 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 11 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 12 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 13 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |