Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “what about” come from?

what about (English) comes from English -ism, from Latin -ismus, from Ancient Greek -ισμός, from Ancient Greek -μός, from Proto-Indo-European -mós — Creates action/result nouns from verb stems.

what about (English): Used to ask someone to consider something or...

Definitions

  1. Used to ask someone to consider something or...

Ancestry of “what about”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ismUsed to form nouns of action or process or result...
2Latin-ismus-ism
3Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
4Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
5Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems

Words derived from “what about”

  • whataboutism
  • whataboutery
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mós →