Where does “swindle” come from?
Swindle comes from German Schwindler, formed with the German agent suffix -er from Middle High German -er, Old High German -āri, and Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European roots wer- and sew-.
swindle (English): To defraud; To obtain by fraudulent or deceitful...
Definitions
- To defraud; To obtain by fraudulent or deceitful...
Ancestry of “swindle”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | swindler | A person who swindles, cheats or defrauds |
| 2 | German | Schwindler | agent noun of schwindeln |
| 3 | German | -er | Forms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to... |
| 4 | Old High German | -āri | used to form agent nouns |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 7 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |