Where does “headhunter” come from?
headhunter (English) comes from English Hunter, from Middle English huntere, from Middle English hunten, from Cimbrian hunt, from Middle High German hunt, from Old High German hunt, from Proto-West Germanic hund, from Proto-Germanic hundaz — dog.
headhunter (English): A person who practises headhunting, the taking...
Definitions
- A person who practises headhunting, the taking...
Ancestry of “headhunter”, step by step
headhunter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Hunter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Hunter | for a hunter |
| 2 | Middle English | huntere | A hunter; a (male) person who hunts animals |
| 3 | Middle English | hunten | to hunt |
| 4 | Cimbrian | hunt | dog |
| 5 | Middle High German | hunt | dog (Canis familiaris) |
| 6 | Old High German | hunt | dog |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | hund | dog |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | hundaz | dog |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱwn̥tós | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱwṓ | dog |
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 |