Where does “wispy” come from?

Wispy comes from Middle English wisp with the adjective-forming suffix -y, which derives from Middle French -ie, ultimately tracing through Latin -ia and -ivus back to Proto-Indo-European -kos.

wispy (English): Consisting of or resembling a wisp; like a...

Definitions

  1. Consisting of or resembling a wisp; like a...

Ancestry of “wispy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
2Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
3Old English-iġ-y, -ic
4Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
5Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
6Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “wispy”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →Every word from English -y →Every word from Old English -iġ →