Where does “youngster” come from?
Youngster comes from English young plus the agentive suffix -ster, ultimately from Proto-Germanic jungaz and Proto-Indo-European h₂yuh₁en-.
youngster (English): A young person
Ancestry of “youngster”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ster | Someone who is, or who is associated with, or who... |
| 2 | Middle English | -estere | — |
| 3 | Old English | -estre | female agent suffix, especially denoting one who... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *-astrijā | — |