Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “righteousness” come from?

Righteousness comes from Middle English rightwisnes, from Old English rihtwīsnes, a compound of riht (right) and wīsnes (quality or state of being).

righteousness (English): The quality or state of being righteous;...

Definitions

  1. The quality or state of being righteous;...

Ancestry of “righteousness”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishrightwisenessrighteousness
2Middle Englishrightwisnesjustice
3Old Englishrihtwīsnesjustice, righteousness
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 “righteousness”

  • unrighteousness
  • uprighteousness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ →