Where does “puckishness” come from?
puckishness (English) comes from English puckish, from English Puck, from English Pike, from French piqué, from French piquer, from Middle French picquer, from Old French piquer, from Vulgar Latin piccare — "low-pitch humming noise".
puckishness (English): An instance of being puckish
Definitions
- An instance of being puckish
Ancestry of “puckishness”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | puckish | Mischievous; excessively playful |
| 2 | English | Puck | — |
| 3 | English | Pike | A member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity |
| 4 | French | piqué | past participle of piquer; dive; two fabrics... |
| 5 | French | piquer | to prick; to sting; to nick, pinch, steal |
| 6 | Middle French | picquer | to sting |
| 7 | Old French | piquer | to pierce with the tip of a sword |
| 8 | Vulgar Latin | piccare | to puncture; to sting, strike; to pierce |
| 9 | Frankish | pikkōn | to peck, strike |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | pikōną | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bew- | "low-pitch humming noise" |