Where does “witch-finder” come from?
witch-finder (English) comes from English finder, from German Finder, from German -er, from Old High German -āri, from Proto-West Germanic -ārī, from Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, from Latin -ārius, from Proto-Italic *-āzios — Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals).
Ancestry of “witch-finder”, step by step
witch-finder traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English finder
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | finder | One who finds or discovers something; An optical... |
| 2 | German | Finder | finder |
| 3 | German | -er | Forms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to... |
| 4 | Old High German | -āri | used to form agent nouns |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 7 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |
via English Witch
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Witch | A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events, particularly one with malicious motives |
| 2 | Middle English | wicche | witch, wizard, sorceror; pagan, heretic,... |
| 3 | Old English | wiċċe | (female) witch |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | wikkōną | to practice sorcery |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wik-néh₂- | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | weyk- | to separate, to choose; to contain, to envelop;... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wey- | to wither; fade; to move, go ahead; to be strong;... |