Where does “gumdigger” come from?
gumdigger (English) comes from English gum, from Middle English gomme, from Old English guma, from Proto-Germanic gumô, from Proto-Indo-European dʰǵʰm̥mō, from Proto-Indo-European dʰéǵʰōm, from Proto-Indo-European -ōm, from Proto-Indo-European -mi.
gumdigger (English): A person who dug for kauri gum, a fossilised resin, in the old kauri fields of New Zealand in the late 19th or early 20th century
Definitions
- A person who dug for kauri gum, a fossilised resin, in the old kauri fields of New Zealand in the late 19th or early 20th century
Ancestry of “gumdigger”, step by step
gumdigger traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English gum
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | gum | The flesh around the teeth; To chew, especially... |
| 2 | Middle English | gomme | Alternative form of gome; Alternative form of... |
| 3 | Old English | guma | man, hero |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | gumô | man |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰǵʰm̥mō | earthling, human |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰéǵʰōm | earth |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōm | emphatic suffix or postpositive particle |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -mi | — |
via English Digger
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Digger | A soldier from Australia or New Zealand; One of a... |
| 2 | Middle English | dyggar | digger |
| 3 | Middle English | -ere | er |
| 4 | Old English | -ere | masculine agent suffix, originally applied only... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 7 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |