Where does “swatting” come from?
Swatting derives from Middle English swat combined with the Old English participial suffix -ing, ultimately from Proto-Germanic -ungō.
swatting (English): present participle of swat; A motion or gesture...
Definitions
- present participle of swat; A motion or gesture...
Ancestry of “swatting”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | swat | To beat off, as insects; to bat, strike, or hit;... |
| 2 | English | squat | Relatively short or low, and thick or broad;... |
| 3 | Middle English | squatten | to squat |
| 4 | Old French | esquatir | — |
| 5 | Old French | quatir | To press down, flatten |
| 6 | Latin | coactire | press together, force |
| 7 | Latin | coactus | forced, compelled, having been forced; urged,... |
| 8 | Latin | cōgō | to collect, assemble, gather together |
| 9 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 10 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 11 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 12 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 15 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 16 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 17 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 18 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 19 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |