Where does “wasteful” come from?
Wasteful derives from Middle English -ful and Old English -ful combined with Proto-Germanic wahstuz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂weg- meaning to grow or increase.
wasteful (English): Inclined to waste or squander money or resources;...
Definitions
- Inclined to waste or squander money or resources;...
Ancestry of “wasteful”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | wastful | — |
| 2 | Middle English | -ful | Appended to nouns to form adjectives denoting... |
| 3 | Old English | -ful | full of; -ful |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -fullaz | -ful |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fullaz | full; the whole, the entire |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pl̥h₁nós | full |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pleh₁- | to fill |
Words derived from “wasteful”