Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “wordy” come from?

Wordy comes from Old English wordiġ, a derivative of word meaning speech or utterance, with the suffix -iġ forming adjectives.

wordy (English): Using an excessive number of words

Definitions

  1. Using an excessive number of words

Ancestry of “wordy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishwordywordy
2Old Englishwordiġwordy, verbose
3Old Englishworð—
4Proto-Germanic*word—
5Proto-Germanicwurdąword
6Proto-Indo-Europeanwerdʰo-word
7Proto-Indo-Europeanwerh₁-to speak, say

Words derived from “wordy”

  • wordiness
  • wordily
  • unwordy
  • overwordy
  • overwordiness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European werh₁- →