Where does “grayhead” come from?
grayhead (English) comes from English head, from English -y, from Middle English -y, from Old English -iġ, from Proto-West Germanic -g, from Proto-Germanic -gaz, from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos — -y, -ic.
grayhead (English): A person with gray hair; an elderly person
Definitions
- A person with gray hair; an elderly person
Ancestry of “grayhead”, step by step
grayhead traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |
via English Gray
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Gray | originally a nickname for someone with a gray beard or hair |
| 2 | Latin | Graecus | Greek, Grecian, of or pertaining to the Greek... |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | Γραικός | Greek; a Graecian, a member of an ancient... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | γραῖα | Graea, Boeotia; Greece |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵerh₂- | to grow old, to mature |