Where does “spydom” come from?
spydom (English) comes from English spy, from English -ing, from Old English -ing, from Old English -tūn, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną, from Gaulish dunum — smoke; mist, haze.
spydom (English): A group of spies; The world of spies and...
Definitions
- A group of spies; The world of spies and...
Ancestry of “spydom”, step by step
spydom traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English spy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | spy | A person who secretly watches and examines the... |
| 2 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 3 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 4 | Old English | -tūn | homestead, village, town |
| 5 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 8 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via English DOM
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | DOM | Initialism of date of marriage; Initialism of... |
| 2 | English | dominance | The state of being dominant; of prime importance;... |
| 3 | English | -ance | Added to an adjective or verb to form a noun... |
| 4 | Middle English | -aunce | Forms nouns indicating states or processes, usually from verbs or other nouns; -ance |
| 5 | Old French | -ance | ance (suffix used to form nouns) |
| 6 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 7 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |