Where does “ghosthunting” come from?

ghosthunting (English) comes from English ghost, from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst, from Proto-West Germanic gaist, from Proto-Germanic gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰeysd- — anger, agitation.

ghosthunting (English): Investigations that aim to track down ghosts

Definitions

  1. Investigations that aim to track down ghosts

Ancestry of “ghosthunting”, step by step

ghosthunting traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English ghost

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishghostThe spirit; the soul of man; The disembodied...
2Middle Englishgosta spiritual being; angel, devil, spirit; soul of...
3Old Englishgāstbreath, soul, spirit, ghost, being
4Proto-West Germanicgaistghost, spirit
5Proto-Germanicgaistazterror, fear; spirit, ghost; mind
6Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰeysd-anger, agitation

via English hunting

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhuntingThe act of finding and killing a wild animal,...
2Middle Englishhunting
3Old Englishhuntunghunting
4Old English-ungforming nouns from verbs, denoting verbal action...
5Proto-Germanic-ungō-ing, -ion. "Forms gerund nouns from verbs."
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰeysd-Every word from Proto-Germanic gaistazEvery word from Proto-West Germanic gaist