Where does “small-townism” come from?
small-townism (English) comes from English small-town, from English small, from Middle English smal, from Old English smæl, from Proto-West Germanic smal, from Proto-Germanic smalaz, from Proto-Indo-European (s)mal- — small; little.
small-townism (English): attitudes
Definitions
- attitudes
Ancestry of “small-townism”, step by step
small-townism traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English small-town
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | small-town | Pertaining to a small town; provincial |
| 2 | English | small | Not large or big; insignificant; few in number;... |
| 3 | Middle English | smal | Small, miniscule; Little, few, scarce; Ground... |
| 4 | Old English | smæl | narrow, slim; not broad; slender; not thick;... |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | smal | small |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | smalaz | small |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)mal- | small; little |
via English ism
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ism | An ideology, system of thought, or practice that... |
| 2 | English | -ism | Used to form nouns of action or process or result... |
| 3 | Latin | -ismus | -ism |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -ισμός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -μός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -mós | Creates action/result nouns from verb stems |