Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hardship” come from?

Hardship comes from Middle English herdschipe, a noun formed from herde meaning "flock" or "herd" with the suffix -schipe denoting a condition or state.

hardship (English): Difficulty or trouble; hard times; To treat ...

Definitions

  1. Difficulty or trouble; hard times; To treat ...

Ancestry of “hardship”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishhardshipe—
2Middle English-schipeAffixed to nouns and adjectives to form nouns...
3Old English-sċiepe—
4Proto-West Germanic-skapiForms nouns denoting state, originally meaning...
5Proto-Germanic-skapizForms nouns denoting state, originally meaning...
6Proto-Germanicskapjanąto make, to create; to shape
7Proto-Indo-Europeanskab-to cut, split, hew, shape; to cut, split, carve,...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European skab- →