Where does “headcase” come from?
headcase (English) comes from English Case, from German Käse, from Middle High German kæse, from Old High German kāsi, from Proto-West Germanic kāsī, from Proto-Germanic kāsijaz, from Latin cāseus, from Proto-Indo-European kwat- — to ferment, become sour; to boil.
headcase (English): A mentally unbalanced, unpredictable person,...
Definitions
- A mentally unbalanced, unpredictable person,...
Ancestry of “headcase”, step by step
headcase traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Case
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Case | abstract feature of a noun phrase that determines... |
| 2 | German | Käse | cheese; nonsense |
| 3 | Middle High German | kæse | cheese |
| 4 | Old High German | kāsi | cheese |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | kāsī | cheese |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | kāsijaz | cheese |
| 7 | Latin | cāseus | cheese |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | kwat- | to ferment, become sour; to boil |
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |