Where does “underfed” come from?

Underfed comes from Middle English under- combined with fed, from Old English under- and Old English fed, tracing to Proto-Germanic under and Proto-Indo-European n̥dʰér and h₁en.

underfed (English): Inadequately fed; simple past tense and past...

Definitions

  1. Inadequately fed; simple past tense and past...

Ancestry of “underfed”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishFedThe Federal Reserve Board or System
2EnglishfederationAct of joining together into a single political...
3FrenchFédérationfederation
4Latinfoederatiofederation, treaty
5Latin-tiōtion, -ation, -ing
6Latindissertātiō(spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition
7Latindissertusarranged, disposed; explained
8Latindissereresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
9Latindis-asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;...
10Latincalceusshoe
11Latincalxlimestone; chalk; the finish line
12Ancient Greekχάλιξsmall stone, pebble; gravel, rubble
Every word from Ancient Greek χάλιξ