Where does “playfellow” come from?
Playfellow comes from English play and English -er, ultimately from Old Norse félag meaning "fellow" or "companion," with the agent suffix -er denoting one who plays.
playfellow (English): playmate; companion for someone to play with
Definitions
- playmate; companion for someone to play with
Ancestry of “playfellow”, step by step
playfellow traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English fellow
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | fellow | A colleague or partner; A companion; a comrade; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | felawe | A partner, friend, or colleague; one linked with... |
| 3 | Old English | fēolaga | companion, partner, colleague |
| 4 | Old Norse | félagi | one with whom one has joined one's property;... |
| 5 | Old Norse | félag | fellowship, partnership |
| 6 | Old Norse | fé | cattle; livestock; property, money |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | fehu | livestock, cattle; property; name of the F-rune |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | péḱu | livestock |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | peḱ- | to pluck; livestock; wealth |
via English play
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | play | To act in a manner such that one has fun; to... |
| 2 | Middle English | pleye | Happiness, mirth, jolliness, or gaiety; Fun,... |
| 3 | Old English | pleġa | exercise |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | plegō | care; an exercise; a game |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -ō | Creates adverbs from adjectives; Creates agent... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ô | -ly; Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ō | Derives nouns from roots |