Where does “never-do-well” come from?
never-do-well (English) comes from English do, from English ditto, from Italian ditto, from Italian detto, from Latin dictus, from Latin dīcō, from Latin -tiō, from Latin dissertātiō — small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble.
Ancestry of “never-do-well”, step by step
never-do-well traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English do
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | do | A syntactic marker |
| 2 | English | ditto | That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the... |
| 3 | Italian | ditto | — |
| 4 | Italian | detto | past participle of dire; past participle of... |
| 5 | Latin | dictus | said, uttered; mentioned, spoken, having been... |
| 6 | Latin | dīcō | to say, talk, speak, utter, mention |
| 7 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 8 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 9 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 10 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 11 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 12 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 13 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 14 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
via English well
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | well | Accurately, competently, satisfactorily;... |
| 2 | Middle English | wellen | to boil, to bubble |
| 3 | Old English | weallan | to well |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | wallaną | to well up, spring out, bubble forth |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wēlH- | to roll, to undulate |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | welH- | to turn, to wind |