Where does “wrongheaded” come from?
Wrongheaded derives from English wrong and English head, with head tracing through Middle English -ed and Old English hēafod to Proto-Germanic haubudą and Proto-Indo-European kauput-, while wrong derives from Proto-Indo-European wer-.
wrongheaded (English): Having an obstinately perverse/erroneous opinion...
Definitions
- Having an obstinately perverse/erroneous opinion...
Ancestry of “wrongheaded”, step by step
wrongheaded traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English headed
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | headed | Of a sheet of paper: having the sender's name,... |
| 2 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 3 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 4 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 5 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |
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 |