Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “wofulness” come from?

wofulness (English) comes from English woful, from English Wo, from English WHO, from Middle English who, from Old English hwā, from Proto-West Germanic hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European kʷos — The primary interrogative root.

wofulness (English): Archaic form of woefulness

Definitions

  1. Archaic form of woefulness

Ancestry of “wofulness”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishwofulObsolete spelling of woeful
2EnglishWothe prefix of catalog entries in the Gliese star...
3EnglishWHO—
4Middle Englishwho—
5Old Englishhwāwho
6Proto-West Germanichwaʀwho
7Proto-Germanichwazwho, what; whose; whom
8Proto-Indo-EuropeankʷosSee *kʷis
9Proto-Indo-Europeankʷ-The primary interrogative root
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷ- →