Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hairy” come from?

Hairy comes from Middle English hery with the suffix -y, from Middle French -ie and Latin -ium, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)ker- meaning to cut or separate.

hairy (English): Of a person, having a lot of hair on the body; Of...

Definitions

  1. Of a person, having a lot of hair on the body; Of...

Ancestry of “hairy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhaircutThe act of cutting of the hair, often done...
2EnglishHair—
3Middle Englishhēr—
4Old Englishhērat this place
5Proto-West Germanic*hēr—
6Proto-Germanichē₂rhere, in this place
7Proto-Indo-EuropeanḱeDeictic particle, here; Post-positional...
8Middle Englishkyt—
9Germankitt—
10Old High Germankuti—
11Proto-West Germanickwidugum, resin
12Proto-Germanickweduzresin
13Proto-Indo-Europeangʷet-resin, gum; to say, speak
14Proto-Indo-Europeangū-to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...

Words derived from “hairy”

  • hairiness
  • nonhairy
  • hairyness
  • unhairy
  • hairily
  • hairyback
  • hairyfish
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gū- →