Where does “penny-dreadfulism” come from?

penny-dreadfulism (English) comes from English penny dreadful, from English dreadful, from Middle English dredful, from Middle English dred, from Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan, from Old English ondrǣdan, from Proto-West Germanic andarādan — on, onto.

penny-dreadfulism (English): The sensationalistic writing style of a penny...

Definitions

  1. The sensationalistic writing style of a penny...

Ancestry of “penny-dreadfulism”, step by step

penny-dreadfulism traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English penny dreadful

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishpenny dreadfulA cheap paperback book, "particularly" those...
2EnglishdreadfulFull of something causing dread, "whether"; Full...
3Middle EnglishdredfulHaving dread or fear
4Middle EnglishdredFear, dread; the state of being frightened
5Middle EnglishdredenTo fear or dread
6Old Englishdrǣdanto fear, dread
7Old Englishondrǣdanto fear, dread
8Proto-West Germanicandarādanto be afraid, fear; to be in awe
9Proto-West Germanicanda-against, opposing; in return, back; facing,...
10Proto-Germanicanda-against, opposing; un-, de-
11Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éntiopposite; near; in front
12Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éntsforehead; front
13Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ent-face; forehead; front
14Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂en-on, onto

via English ism

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishismAn ideology, system of thought, or practice that...
2English-ismUsed to form nouns of action or process or result...
3Latin-ismus-ism
4Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
5Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
6Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂en-Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂ent-Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂énts