Where does “mindful” come from?
Mindful comes from English mind and the suffix -ful, tracing through Middle English and Old English -ful to Proto-Germanic gamundiz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European méntis and men-.
mindful (English): aware (of something); attentive, heedful
Definitions
- aware (of something); attentive, heedful
Ancestry of “mindful”, step by step
mindful traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English mind
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | mind | The ability for rational thought; The ability to... |
| 2 | Middle English | minde | — |
| 3 | Old English | mynd | mind |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | gamundiz | remembrance, memory; commemoration, memorial |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | ga- | Indicates association or togetherness; co-;... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 8 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 9 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 10 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 11 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 12 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via Middle English myndeful
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | myndeful | — |
| 2 | Old English | ġemyndful | of good memory |
via English ful
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ful | — |