Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “oversweep” come from?

oversweep (English) comes from English sweep, from Middle English swepen, from Middle English -els, from Old English -els, from Proto-West Germanic -islī, from Proto-West Germanic -ī, from Proto-Germanic -į̄, from Proto-Indo-European -íh₂ — Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...

oversweep (English): To sweep over; to cover by sweeping

Definitions

  1. To sweep over; to cover by sweeping

Ancestry of “oversweep”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsweepTo clean by means of a stroking motion of a...
2Middle Englishswepen—
3Middle English-els—
4Old English-elssuffix creating nouns from verbs
5Proto-West Germanic-islīUsed to form nouns from verbs denoting something...
6Proto-West Germanic-ī-ness, -th
7Proto-Germanic-į̄-th
8Proto-Indo-European-íh₂—
9Proto-Indo-European-h₂Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ →