Where does “pettywhin” come from?
pettywhin (English) comes from English petty, from Middle English peti, from Middle French Petit, from Old French petit, from Gallo-Romance pitittus.
pettywhin (English): The needle furze
Ancestry of “pettywhin”, step by step
pettywhin traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English petty
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | petty | Little, small, secondary in rank or importance;... |
| 2 | Middle English | peti | Alternative form of pety |
| 3 | Middle French | Petit | small |
| 4 | Old French | petit | small, little; worthless; valueless; poor; of... |
| 5 | Gallo-Romance | pitittus | — |
via English whin
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | whin | Gorse; furze; The plant woad-waxen; Whinstone |
| 2 | Middle English | whynne | Gorse or a similar plant |
| 3 | Old Norse | hvein | swampy land; gorse, furze; swamp, marsh |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hwainō | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱweyn- | to make dirty, soil; filth; mud; to soil; mud;... |