Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “spotty” come from?

Spotty comes from Middle English -y, from Middle French -ie, from Latin -ia, from Latin -ivus, from Latin -ia, from Proto-Indo-European -kos.

spotty (English): Having spots; spotted; Of inconsistent quality; A...

Definitions

  1. Having spots; spotted; Of inconsistent quality; A...

Ancestry of “spotty”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishspotA round or irregular patch on the surface of a...
2English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
3Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
4Old English-iġ-y, -ic
5Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
6Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
7Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “spotty”

  • spottiness
  • spottily
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →