Where does “followership” come from?
Followership derives from English follower plus the suffix -ship, tracing through Middle English -schipe and Old English -scipe (denoting a state or condition) back to Proto-Germanic skapjaną and ultimately Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- (to fill).
followership (English): Adherence to a leader; A group of followers
Definitions
- Adherence to a leader; A group of followers
Ancestry of “followership”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | follower | One who follows, comes after another; Something... |
| 2 | Middle English | folwer | — |
| 3 | Old English | folgere | follower, attendant, disciple |
| 4 | Old English | folġian | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | folgēn | to follow |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | fulgāną | to follow |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | fullaz | full; the whole, the entire |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥h₁nós | full |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |