Where does “nice-to-have” come from?

nice-to-have (English) comes from English have, from English -s, from English ’s, from English Kingstown, from English town, from Middle English toun, from Middle English ende, from Old English ende — on, onto.

nice-to-have (English): A feature that a product or service being designed would ideally have, though it may be impractical at present

Definitions

  1. A feature that a product or service being designed would ideally have, though it may be impractical at present

Ancestry of “nice-to-have”, step by step

nice-to-have traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English have

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishhaveTo possess, own; To hold, as something at...
2English-sUsed to form regular plurals of nouns; Used to...
3English’s
4EnglishKingstownOS grid ref NY3959
5EnglishtownA settlement; an area with residential districts,...
6Middle Englishtountown
7Middle EnglishendeThe end or finishing of a thing; the terminal...
8Old Englishendeend, limit, border, corner
9Proto-Germanicandiin addition, furthermore, and
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éntiopposite; near; in front
11Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éntsforehead; front
12Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ent-face; forehead; front
13Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂en-on, onto

via English Nice

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishNice(pronounced /ni:s/ or /naɪs/)
2Middle Englishnycefoolish, simple, ignorant, naive; scared, weak,...
3Old Frenchnicesimple, foolish
4Latinnesciusunaware, ignorant; not knowing how, unable
5Latinnesciōto not know, to be ignorant, to not understand
6Latinsciōto be able to, to know, understand, to have practical knowledge
7Proto-Indo-Europeansḱēy-to shine; to shimmer; shadow; luster, gloss,...
8Proto-Germanicskaidąseparation, distinction
9Proto-Indo-EuropeanskÁit-to cut, part, spearate, divide; to cut, part,...

via English to

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtoA particle used for marking the following verb as...
2Middle Englishtotoe; to; too
3Middle Englishtonethe one
4LatintonusThe stretching or straining of a rope; A strain;...
5Ancient Greekτόνοςrope, cord; chord; tone, note
6Proto-Hellenictónosrope, cord; tension
7Proto-Indo-Europeantónossomething stretched; chord, fiber, string
8Proto-Indo-Europeanten-to stretch, to extend
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂en-