Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “grizzly” come from?

Grizzly comes from English grizzle with the Middle English suffix -y, from Middle French -ie, from Latin -ia, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European -kos.

grizzly (English): Grey-haired, greyish; Misspelling of grisly; A...

Definitions

  1. Grey-haired, greyish; Misspelling of grisly; A...

Ancestry of “grizzly”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishgrizzleA dark grey colour; Grey hair; A grey wig
2Old Frenchgriselgrayish; somewhat gray
3Old French-elSuffix that usually denotes a masculine noun
4Latin-ellusAlternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine...
5Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
6Proto-Italic-olos—
7Proto-Italic-elos—
8Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
9Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “grizzly”

  • гризли
  • グリズリー
  • grizzly
  • grizzly
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →