Where does “twiddlesome” come from?

twiddlesome (English) comes from English -some, from Middle English -som, from Old English sum, from Proto-West Germanic *sum, from Proto-Germanic sumaz, from Proto-Indo-European sem- — together, one.

twiddlesome (English): Charactersied or marked by twiddling; trifling

Definitions

  1. Charactersied or marked by twiddling; trifling

Ancestry of “twiddlesome”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-someCharacterized by some specific condition or...
2Middle English-somsome; having a specific quality
3Old Englishsumsome
4Proto-West Germanic*sumsome
5Proto-Germanicsumazsome (one), a certain (one)
6Proto-Indo-Europeansem-together, one
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sem- →Every word from Proto-Germanic sumaz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic *sum →
twiddlesome — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer