Where does “soft” come from?
Soft comes from Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, from Old English sēfte, from Proto-West Germanic samftī, from Proto-Indo-European semptio-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sem-.
soft (English): Easily giving way under pressure; Smooth and...
Definitions
- Easily giving way under pressure; Smooth and...
Ancestry of “soft”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | softe | soft |
| 2 | Old English | sōfte | — |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | samftō | softly, gently |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -ō | Creates adverbs from adjectives; Creates agent... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -ô | -ly; Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -ō | Derives nouns from roots |
Words derived from “soft”