Where does “shortcoming” come from?
Shortcoming comes from English short and coming, the latter from Old English -ing (verbal noun suffix) combined with English come, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷem- meaning to go or come.
shortcoming (English): deficiency
Definitions
- deficiency
Ancestry of “shortcoming”, step by step
shortcoming traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English short
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | short | Having a small distance from one end or edge to... |
| 2 | Middle English | schort | short as opposed to being tall or long |
| 3 | Old English | sċeort | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | skurt | short; lacking, deficient |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skurtaz | short; lacking, deficient |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)ḱer- | dung, manure, filth; manure, dung, filth |