Where does “wrongful” come from?
Wrongful derives from Middle English wrongful, combining Middle English wrong with the suffix -ful from Old English -ful, ultimately from Proto-Germanic fullaz meaning full.
wrongful (English): wrong or unjust; unlawful or illegal
Definitions
- wrong or unjust; unlawful or illegal
Ancestry of “wrongful”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | wrongful | evil, sinful; wrongful, unethical; dishonest |
| 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 |