Where does “lanky” come from?
Lanky comes from Middle English -y, Middle French -ie, Latin -ia, Latin -ivus, and Latin -ia, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -kos.
lanky (English): Tall, slim, and rather ungraceful or awkward
Definitions
- Tall, slim, and rather ungraceful or awkward
Ancestry of “lanky”, step by step
lanky traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Lancashire
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Lancashire | A type of cheese made in Lancashire, England |
| 2 | Middle English | Lancastreschire | — |
| 3 | Middle English | schire | Alternative form of shire; Alternative form of... |
| 4 | Old English | sċīr | bright; shire; county |
| 5 | Old English | burna | stream |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | brunnō | well, spring |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | brunnô | source; wellspring; fountain; brook; stream;... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰréh₁wr̥ | well, spring, source |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰrewh₁- | to boil; to brew |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰer- | to bear, carry |
via English lank
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | lank | Slender or thin; not well filled out; not plump;... |
| 2 | Middle English | lank | — |
| 3 | Old English | hlanc | loose, slender, flaccid, lank |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | hlank | flexible, bent |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hlankaz | flexible; bendsome; slim; slender; sleek |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kleng- | to turn, bend; to bend, turn, wind, twist |