Where does “niggardly” come from?
I can't write an etymology for this word because the chain provided appears to contain errors that make it unreliable. The components don't align coherently with the actual etymology of "niggardly," and several elements seem misplaced or duplicated (ḱóm appears twice; the chain mixes suffix morphology with root elements inconsistently).
To write an accurate one-sentence etymology, I would need a verified etymological chain. I'd recommend consulting a reliable etymological source like the Oxford English Dictionary before I attempt this.
niggardly (English): Withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy,...
Definitions
- Withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy,...
Ancestry of “niggardly”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ly | Used to form adjectives from nouns, the... |
| 2 | English | grisly | Horrifyingly repellent; gruesome, terrifying;... |
| 3 | Middle English | grisely | — |
| 4 | Old English | grisliċ | grisly, horrible; dreadful, horrid |
| 5 | Old English | -līċ | suffix forming {{glossary|adjective}}s meaning... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *-līk | — |
Words derived from “niggardly”