Where does “mothbally” come from?

mothbally (English) comes from English mothball, from English Ball, from Middle English bal, from Old English beall, from English beal, from Old English hyll, from Albanian hulli, from Proto-Germanic hulliz — to rise, to be tall; hill.

mothbally (English): Resembling or suggesting mothballs, especially...

Definitions

  1. Resembling or suggesting mothballs, especially...

Ancestry of “mothbally”, step by step

mothbally traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English mothball

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmothballA small ball of chemical pesticide and deodorant...
2EnglishBallsurname
3Middle EnglishbalA ball; A rounded or spherical lump or bump,...
4Old Englishbeallball
5EnglishbealA small inflammatory tumor; pustule; To gather...
6Old Englishhyllhill
7Albanianhullifurrow
8Proto-Germanichullizhill
9Proto-Indo-Europeankl̥Hníshill
10Proto-Indo-EuropeankelH-to rise, to be tall; hill

via English Y

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishYA figure or mark in the shape of the letter Y; A...
2EnglishyuriA narrative or visual work featuring a romance or...
3Japanese百合lily
4Japanese連用形an inflectional category: the continuative or...
5Japanese見るto see, to watch, to observe, to look at...
6Japanesea dream; a vision; leaving reality to the state...
7Old Japanesea dream
8Japanesean order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger...
9Middle Chinese
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kelH-