Where does “godsend” come from?
Godsend comes from Middle English goddes sand, literally meaning "God's sending" or "God's gift," from the possessive form of God and sand meaning a sending or messenger.
godsend (English): An unexpected good fortune or benefit; a windfall
Definitions
- An unexpected good fortune or benefit; a windfall
Ancestry of “godsend”, step by step
godsend traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English God
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | God | A being such as a monotheistic God: a single... |
| 2 | Middle English | god | A god or deity; a divine individual; A person... |
| 3 | Old English | gōd | a good thing, advantage, benefit, gift; good,... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | gōd | good |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | gudą | invoked one; god, deity |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | gastiz | stranger, guest |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰóstis | stranger, host |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -tis | Derives abstract/action nouns from verb roots |
via English send
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | send | To make something go from one place to another;... |
| 2 | Middle English | senden | to send |
| 3 | Old English | sendan | to send |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | sandijaną | to send |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 8 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |