Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “rainshadow” come from?

rainshadow (English) comes from English shadow, from English -y, from Middle English -y, from Old English -iġ, from Proto-West Germanic -g, from Proto-Germanic -gaz, from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos — -y, -ic.

rainshadow (English): An area which is unusually dry due to nearby...

Definitions

  1. An area which is unusually dry due to nearby...

Ancestry of “rainshadow”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishshadowA dark image projected onto a surface where light...
2English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
3Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
4Old English-iġ-y, -ic
5Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
6Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
7Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →