Where does “greyheaded” come from?
greyheaded (English) comes from English headed, 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.
Ancestry of “greyheaded”, step by step
greyheaded traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English headed
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | headed | Of a sheet of paper: having the sender's name,... |
| 2 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 3 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 4 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 5 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |
via English Grey
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Grey | A member of the Royal Scots Greys, a cavalry... |
| 2 | Middle English | grey | grey, dull, drab; glinting, glistening; grey |
| 3 | Old English | grǣġ | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *grāu | grey |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | grēwaz | grey |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰreh₁- | to become green, grow; to grow; to green, to grow |