Where does “niggly” come from?

niggly (English) comes from English -y, from Middle English -y, from Old English -iġ, from Proto-West Germanic -g, from Proto-Germanic -gaz, from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos — -y, -ic.

niggly (English): bad-tempered, especially about trivial details;...

Definitions

  1. bad-tempered, especially about trivial details;...

Ancestry of “niggly”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
2Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
3Old English-iġ-y, -ic
4Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
5Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
6Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “niggly”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →Every word from English -y →Every word from Old English -iġ →