Where does “hairsbreadth” come from?
hairsbreadth (English) comes from English Hair, from Middle English hēr, from Old English hēr, from Proto-West Germanic *hēr, from Proto-Germanic hē₂r, from Proto-Indo-European ḱe, from Middle English kyt, from German kitt — to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...
hairsbreadth (English): A very short distance or a very small amount
Definitions
- A very short distance or a very small amount
Ancestry of “hairsbreadth”, step by step
hairsbreadth traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Hair
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Hair | A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals |
| 2 | Middle English | hēr | a hair |
| 3 | Old English | hēr | at this place |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *hēr | here |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hē₂r | here, in this place |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 7 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 8 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 9 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 10 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 11 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via English breadth
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | breadth | The extent or measure of how broad or wide... |
| 2 | Middle English | bredthe | breadth |
| 3 | Middle English | brede | Alternative form of breiden; Alternative form of... |
| 4 | Old English | bred | surface; plank, board; table, tablet |
| 5 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 6 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 7 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |