Where does “nursemaid” come from?
Nursemaid comes from English nurse and English maiden, combining a caregiver with a young unmarried woman.
nursemaid (English): a woman or girl employed to care for children; To...
Definitions
- a woman or girl employed to care for children; To...
Ancestry of “nursemaid”, step by step
nursemaid traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English maid
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | maid | A girl or an unmarried young woman; maiden; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | mayde | young woman |
| 3 | English | maiden | A girl or an unmarried young woman; A female... |
| 4 | Middle English | mayden | maiden |
| 5 | Old English | mægden | girl; virgin, young unmarried woman |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | magadīn | little girl |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | -īn | Creates adjectives from nouns with the sense... |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |
via English nurse
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | nurse | A wet nurse; A person who takes care of other... |
| 2 | Middle English | norice | A woman employed to take care of one's children... |
| 3 | Old French | norrice | a wet nurse |
| 4 | Latin | nūtrīcia | nurse |
| 5 | Latin | nūtrīcius | that suckles or nurses |
| 6 | Latin | nūtrīx | a child's nurse; wet nurse; milk mother |
| 7 | Latin | nūtriō | to suckle, breastfeed, nurse |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | snoutrjō | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | snew-tr-ih₂ | female nurser |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)neh₂- | to swim; to float |