Where does “wishful” come from?
Wishful derives from Middle English -ful, Old English -ful, and Proto-Germanic -fullaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁-, meaning to fill.
wishful (English): Wished-for; desired, wanted; Expressing a wish or...
Definitions
- Wished-for; desired, wanted; Expressing a wish or...
Ancestry of “wishful”, step by step
wishful traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English wish
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | wish | A desire, hope, or longing for something or for... |
| 2 | Middle English | fisch | An animal that inhabits the water or the meat of... |
| 3 | Old English | fisċ | fish |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | fisk | fish |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fiskaz | fish |
| 6 | Indo-European | *peysk- | — |
via English ful
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ful | — |