Where does “wrongdoing” come from?
Wrongdoing is a compound of English wrong and English doing, which derives from English do, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- meaning to put or place.
wrongdoing (English): Violation of standards of behavior; An instance...
Definitions
- Violation of standards of behavior; An instance...
Ancestry of “wrongdoing”, step by step
wrongdoing traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English doing
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | doing | A deed or action, especially when somebody is... |
| 2 | English | do | A syntactic marker |
| 3 | English | ditto | That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the... |
| 4 | Italian | ditto | — |
| 5 | Italian | detto | past participle of dire; past participle of... |
| 6 | Latin | dictus | said, uttered; mentioned, spoken, having been... |
| 7 | Latin | dīcō | to say, talk, speak, utter, mention |
| 8 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 9 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 10 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 11 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 12 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 13 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 14 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 15 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |
via English wrong
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | wrong | Incorrect or untrue; Asserting something... |
| 2 | Middle English | wrong | A wrong, injustice; A wrong, evil, wrongdoing,... |
| 3 | Old English | wrang | wrong, injustice; rough, uneven |
| 4 | Old Norse | rangr | unjust |
| 5 | Old Norse | wrangr | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | wrangaz | twisted, warped, bent, crooked, wry; wretched,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | werḱ- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |