Where does “worldbuilding” come from?
worldbuilding (English) comes from English building, from English -ing, from Old English -ing, from Old English -tūn, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną, from Gaulish dunum — smoke; mist, haze.
worldbuilding (English): The conception and description of a fictional...
Definitions
- The conception and description of a fictional...
Ancestry of “worldbuilding”, step by step
worldbuilding traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English building
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | building | The act or process by which something is built;... |
| 2 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 3 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 4 | Old English | -tūn | homestead, village, town |
| 5 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 8 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via English World
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | World | The specific world, or any of several specific constituent worlds, that humans live in, among any other (real or possible) worlds |
| 2 | Middle English | world | The world, the planet; A dimension, realm, or... |
| 3 | Old English | weorold | world |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | weraldi | world |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | weraldiz | lifetime, worldly existence; mankind; world |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | weraz | man; husband |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wiHrós | man; husband; warrior, hero |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | weyh₁- | to chase, pursue; to suppress, persecute |