Where does “unflattering” come from?
Unflattering derives from English flattering, itself from English flatter, which comes from English flat, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European óynos and ano- through Latin -are and -arius.
unflattering (English): Not flattering; present participle of unflatter
Definitions
- Not flattering; present participle of unflatter
Ancestry of “unflattering”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Un- | not |
| 2 | English | still | Not moving; calm; Not effervescing; not... |
| 3 | Old English | stillan | become calm, abate, subside; calm, pacify,... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | stillijan | to make still, quiet |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -jan | Creates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |