Where does “firestarting” come from?

firestarting (English) comes from English firestart, from English firestarter, from English starter, from English -er, from Middle English -er, from Old French -er, from Latin -āre, from Proto-Italic -āō — he, she.

Ancestry of “firestarting”, step by step

firestarting traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English firestart

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfirestartTo start a fire
2EnglishfirestarterOne who starts fires; A tool used to start a fire
3EnglishstarterSomeone who starts something; Something that...
4English-erA person or thing that does an action indicated...
5Middle English-eragentive suffix; agent noun suffix
6Old French-erAlternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;...
7Latin-ārefirst conjugation
8Proto-Italic-āōForms primarily denominative verbs
9Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
10Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
11Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-
12Chichewaiyehe, she

via English ing

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishingA meadow, especially a low meadow near a river;...
2Middle Englishing
3Old Englishingmeadow, water meadow, ing
4Old Norseengmeadow
5Proto-GermanicangijōA low lying meadow in a valley or near a river
6Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂énkoscurve, bend
7Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

via English starting

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishstartingpresent participle of start; The act of something...
Every word from Chichewa iye