Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “mischievousness” come from?

mischievousness (English) comes from English mischievous, from Middle English myschevous, from Anglo-Norman meschevous, from Old French meschever, from Old French mes, from Latin magis, from Dutch magisch, from Dutch magie.

mischievousness (English): The characteristic of being mischievous; the...

Definitions

  1. The characteristic of being mischievous; the...

Ancestry of “mischievousness”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmischievousCausing mischief; injurious; Troublesome, cheeky,...
2Middle EnglishmyschevousSorrowful, distraught; experiencing hardship or...
3Anglo-Normanmeschevous—
4Old Frenchmescheverto fail; to make a mistake; to suffer a...
5Old Frenchmesbut; my
6Latinmagismore; more greatly; better
7Dutchmagischmagical, controlled or determined by supernatural...
8Dutchmagiemagic, sorcery ; hence supernatural occurrences...
9Frenchmagiemagic; A magical, surprising, fascinating feat;...
10Middle Frenchmagie—
11Latinmagīa—
12Ancient Greekμαγεία—
13Ancient GreekΜάγοςmagician, and derogatorily sorcerer, trickster,...
14Old Persian𐎶𐎦𐏁priest
15Proto-Iranianmagúš—
Every word from Proto-Iranian magúš →