Where does “mimsy” come from?
mimsy (English) comes from English miserable, from Middle French miserable, from Latin miserabilis, from Latin -bilis, from Proto-Italic -ðlis, from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlis, from Proto-Indo-European -dʰlom — Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;...
mimsy (English): A nonce word in Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"...
Definitions
- A nonce word in Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"...
Ancestry of “mimsy”, step by step
mimsy traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English miserable
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | miserable | In a state of misery: very sad, ill, or poor;... |
| 2 | Middle French | miserable | — |
| 3 | Latin | miserabilis | pitiable, miserable, deplorable, lamentable,... |
| 4 | Latin | -bilis | -ble |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -ðlis | Forms adjectives from verb stems indicating capacity or worth of being acted on |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -dʰlom | Alternative form of *-trom; instrumental suffix;... |
via English flimsy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | flimsy | Likely to bend or break under pressure; Weak;... |