Where does “grayish” come from?
Grayish comes from Old English grǣġ, meaning gray or grey, combined with the Old English suffix -isċ meaning resembling, tracing back through Proto-Germanic grēwaz to the Proto-Indo-European root ǵʰreh₁-.
grayish (English): somewhat gray
Definitions
- somewhat gray
Ancestry of “grayish”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | -ish | Typical of, similar to, being like; Somewhat,... |
| 2 | Middle English | -ish | Alternative form of -yssh |
| 3 | Old English | -isċ | -ish |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -isk | Creates adjectives from nouns |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -iskaz | Forms adjectives from nouns with the sense of... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -iskos | Characteristic of, typical of, pertaining to |