Where does “tight-lippedness” come from?
tight-lippedness (English) comes from English tight-lipped, from English lipped, from English lip, from German lippe, from Yiddish ליפּ, from Middle High German lippe, from Old High German *lippa, from Proto-Germanic *lippjō.
tight-lippedness (English): The state of being tight-lipped
Definitions
- The state of being tight-lipped
Ancestry of “tight-lippedness”, step by step
tight-lippedness traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English tight-lipped
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | tight-lipped | Having the lips pressed together; Unwilling to... |
| 2 | English | lipped | Having a raised lip; Having some specific type of... |
| 3 | English | lip | Either of the two fleshy protrusions around the... |
| 4 | German | lippe | lip |
| 5 | Yiddish | ליפּ | lip |
| 6 | Middle High German | lippe | — |
| 7 | Old High German | *lippa | — |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | *lippjō | — |
via English Ness
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Ness | An Ulster princess and the mother of Conchobar mac Nessa and Findchoem in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Daughter of Eochaid Sálbuide. Also the mother of Cormac Cond Longas by incest with Conchobar mac Nessa |
| 2 | Middle English | nesse | — |
| 3 | Old English | næs | not, not at all; not; first/third-person singular... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | nasją | foothill; headland; cape |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | néh₂s | nose |