Where does “slyness” come from?
slyness (English) comes from Middle English slynesse, from Middle English -nesse, from Old English -nes, from Proto-West Germanic -nassī, from Proto-Germanic -inassuz, from Proto-West Germanic -ī, from Proto-Germanic -į̄, from Proto-Indo-European -íh₂ — Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...
slyness (English): The state or quality of being sly; The result or...
Definitions
- The state or quality of being sly; The result or...
Ancestry of “slyness”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | slynesse | Wit, shrewdness; the state of being wise;... |
| 2 | Middle English | -nesse | Affixed to adjectives to form abstract nouns... |
| 3 | Old English | -nes | Used to form abstract nouns, usually from... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -nassī | Used to form abstract nouns, usually from... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -inassuz | -ness |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | -ī | -ness, -th |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -į̄ | -th |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -íh₂ | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -h₂ | Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups... |