Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “pidgin English” come from?

pidgin English (English) comes from English business, from Middle English busines, from Old English bisiġnes, from Old English -nes, from Proto-West Germanic -nassī, from Proto-Germanic -inassuz, from Proto-West Germanic -ī, from Proto-Germanic -į̄ — Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...

pidgin English (English): The Chinese pidgin English spoken in Canton and...

Definitions

  1. The Chinese pidgin English spoken in Canton and...

Ancestry of “pidgin English”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbusinessA specific commercial enterprise or...
2Middle Englishbusines—
3Old Englishbisiġnesbusiness, busyness
4Old English-nesUsed to form abstract nouns, usually from...
5Proto-West Germanic-nassīUsed to form abstract nouns, usually from...
6Proto-Germanic-inassuz-ness
7Proto-West Germanic-ī-ness, -th
8Proto-Germanic-į̄-th
9Proto-Indo-European-íh₂—
10Proto-Indo-European-h₂Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...

Words derived from “pidgin English”

  • pidgin
  • pidginization
  • pidginize
  • prepidgin
  • pidginist
  • pidginogenic
  • pijini
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ →