Where does “miserly” come from?
Miserly derives from English miser, from Latin miser meaning wretched, tracing through Old English -līċ and Proto-Germanic galīkaz back to Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to approach or come together.
miserly (English): Like a miser; very covetous; cautious with money
Definitions
- Like a miser; very covetous; cautious with money
Ancestry of “miserly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | Miser | a surname |
| 2 | Middle English | misser | — |
| 3 | Late Latin | miser | — |
Words derived from “miserly”