Where does “missing” come from?
Missing derives from English miss, which comes from Old English missan meaning to fail or go wrong, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mey- meaning to change or exchange.
missing (English): present participle of miss; Not able to be...
Definitions
- present participle of miss; Not able to be...
Ancestry of “missing”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | miss | To fail to hit; To fail to achieve or attain; To... |
| 2 | Middle English | missen | — |
| 3 | Old English | missan | to miss; to not notice something |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | missijaną | to miss, go wrong, fail |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | mēyt- | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | mēy- | soft, tender, dear |
Words derived from “missing”