Where does “footloose” come from?
Footloose comes from Middle English fot combined with Old Norse lauss, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European pṓds meaning foot.
footloose (English): Tending to travel or do as one pleases; readily...
Definitions
- Tending to travel or do as one pleases; readily...
Ancestry of “footloose”, step by step
footloose traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English loose
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | loose | To let loose, to free from restraints; To... |
| 2 | English | lose | To cause to cease to be in one's possession or... |
| 3 | German | Nikolaus | a representation of St. Nicholas; the day of 6th... |
| 4 | Latin | Nīcolāus | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | Νικόλαος | Nicolas |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | λᾱός | people; men; the people |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | lāwós | people, crowd |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leh₂wos | people |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | leh₂- | to bark, howl; to be concealed |
via English foot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | foot | A biological structure found in many animals that... |
| 2 | Middle English | fot | foot; The bottom, lower part or foundation of... |
| 3 | Old English | fōt | foot |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | fōt | foot |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fōts | foot |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pṓds | foot |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | póds | foot |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ped- | to walk, to step; to stumble, to fall |