Where does “peevish” come from?

Peevish comes from Middle English pevische, of uncertain origin and meaning.

peevish (English): Characterized by or exhibiting petty bad temper,...

Definitions

  1. Characterized by or exhibiting petty bad temper,...

Ancestry of “peevish”, step by step

peevish traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English pevische

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishpevische—

via Middle English peivesshe

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishpeivesshe—

via Middle English pevisse

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishpevisse—

Words derived from “peevish”

Every word from Middle English pevische →