Where does “heartsick” come from?
Heartsick combines English heart with English sick, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr meaning heart and -kos forming adjectives.
heartsick (English): Very despondent or sorrowful
Definitions
- Very despondent or sorrowful
Ancestry of “heartsick”, step by step
heartsick traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English sick
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sick | In poor health; ill; Having an urge to vomit;... |
| 2 | English | sic | Thus; thus written; To mark with a bracketed sic;... |
| 3 | English | seek | To try to find; to look for; to search for; To... |
| 4 | Middle English | seke | Alternative form of seken |
| 5 | Old English | sēċan | to seek or inquire about |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | sōkijan | to seek, to look for |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | sōkijaną | to seek, look for |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | séh₂gyeti | to give a sign |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | seh₂g- | to seek out |