Where does “underweight” come from?
Underweight comes from Middle English under- combined with weight, tracing through Old English under-, Proto-Germanic under, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European roots weǵʰ-, wekʷ-, and weyk- related to carrying and moving.
underweight (English): Of an inappropriately or unusually low weight;...
Definitions
- Of an inappropriately or unusually low weight;...
Ancestry of “underweight”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | under- | Under : insufficient, insufficiently, below what... |
| 2 | English | under | In or at a lower level than; As a subject of;... |
| 3 | Middle English | under | — |
| 4 | Old English | under | under |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | under | among, between; under, beneath; under |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁entér | between |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁en | in; in, inside |