Where does “lengthways” come from?
Lengthways derives from English length, from Middle English lengthe, from Old English lengþu, from Proto-Germanic langiþō and langaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dl̥h₁gʰós meaning long.
lengthways (English): lengthwise
Ancestry of “lengthways”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ways | towards, in the direction towards; in the... |
| 2 | English | -s | Used to form regular plurals of nouns; Used to... |
| 3 | Middle English | -es | Alternative form of -yssh; Alternative form of... |
| 4 | Old English | -es | possessive marker, indicating that an object... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -as | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -ēs | Primarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ess | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |