Where does “heartening” come from?
Heartening derives from English hearten, formed from Old English heorte through the productive English verbal suffix -en, with heorte tracing to Proto-Germanic herutaz and ultimately Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr, the root for heart.
heartening (English): Cheerfully encouraging; present participle of...
Definitions
- Cheerfully encouraging; present participle of...
Ancestry of “heartening”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | hearten | To give heart to; to encourage, urge on, cheer,... |
| 2 | English | -en | Denotes the past participle form when attached to... |
| 3 | Middle English | -en | Denotes the past participle form when attached to... |
| 4 | Old English | -en | mæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;... |
| 5 | Old Norse | -inn | Used to create adjectives from nouns, meaning... |
| 6 | Proto-Norse | -īna- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |