Where does “heckfire” come from?
heckfire (English) comes from English hellfire, from Middle English helle fire, from Old English hellefȳr, from Old English fȳr, from Old English feor, from Proto-Germanic ferrai, from Proto-Indo-European per-nóy, from Proto-Indo-European per- — passed , crossed.
heckfire (English): hellfire
Definitions
- hellfire
Ancestry of “heckfire”, step by step
heckfire traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English hellfire
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | hellfire | The fire of Hell; Fire produced by the Devil, or... |
| 2 | Middle English | helle fire | — |
| 3 | Old English | hellefȳr | hellfire |
| 4 | Old English | fȳr | fire |
| 5 | Old English | feor | Alternative form of feorr; far |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | ferrai | far, distant |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | per-nóy | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
via English Heck
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Heck | A hardy breed of domestic cattle, the result of an attempt to breed back the extinct aurochs from modern aurochs-derived cattle in the 1920s and 1930s |
| 2 | English | Hell | Any of various places so named |
| 3 | German | hellen | to brighten |
| 4 | Middle High German | hëllen | to sound, to resound, to ring out; to echo |
| 5 | Old High German | hëllan | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | hellaną | to resound, make a sound |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱelh₁- | to warm up, to be hot; to warm up, be hot |