Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sneakingness” come from?

sneakingness (English) comes from English sneaking, from English sneak, from Middle English sniken, from Old English snīcan, from Proto-West Germanic snīkan, from Proto-Germanic snīkaną, from Proto-Indo-European sneyg- — to crawl.

sneakingness (English): sneaking or underhand behaviour; cowardly...

Definitions

  1. sneaking or underhand behaviour; cowardly...

Ancestry of “sneakingness”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishsneakingpresent participle of sneak; The act of one who...
2EnglishsneakOne who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to...
3Middle Englishsnikento creep, crawl
4Old Englishsnīcanto creep, crawl; to creep; crawl
5Proto-West Germanicsnīkanto crawl; to creep
6Proto-Germanicsnīkanąto crawl; to creep
7Proto-Indo-Europeansneyg-to crawl
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sneyg- →