Where does “mistletoe” come from?

Mistletoe comes from Middle English mistelto, from Old English mistil-tān, where tān derives from Proto-Germanic tainaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sed-.

mistletoe (English): Any of several hemiparasitic evergreen plants of...

Definitions

  1. Any of several hemiparasitic evergreen plants of...

Ancestry of “mistletoe”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishmisteltoEuropean mistletoe; hardened berries of mistletoe...
2Old Englishmisteltānmistletoe
3Old Englishtānsprig, twig; twig, switch
4Proto-West Germanic*taintwig
5Proto-Germanictainazrod; twig; straw; lot
6Proto-Indo-Europeandoynos—

Words derived from “mistletoe”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European doynos →Every word from Proto-Germanic tainaz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic *tain →