Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “minesweeping” come from?

minesweeping (English) comes from English sweeping, from English sweep, from Middle English swepen, from Middle English -els, from Old English -els, from Proto-West Germanic -islī, from Proto-West Germanic -ī, from Proto-Germanic -į̄ — Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...

minesweeping (English): The detection and safe disposal of mines

Definitions

  1. The detection and safe disposal of mines

Ancestry of “minesweeping”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishsweepingpresent participle of sweep; An instance of...
2EnglishsweepTo clean by means of a stroking motion of a...
3Middle Englishswepen—
4Middle English-els—
5Old English-elssuffix creating nouns from verbs
6Proto-West Germanic-islīUsed to form nouns from verbs denoting something...
7Proto-West Germanic-ī-ness, -th
8Proto-Germanic-į̄-th
9Proto-Indo-European-íh₂—
10Proto-Indo-European-h₂Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ →