Where does “pikkukiitäjä” come from?

pikkukiitäjä (Finnish) comes from Finnish kiitäjä, from Finnish jä, from Proto-Finno-Ugric *ja, from Proto-Germanic jahw, from Proto-Germanic -hw, from Proto-Germanic -hwe, from Proto-Indo-European -kʷe — and; Forms distributives from interrogatives.

pikkukiitäjä (Finnish): small elephant hawk-moth

Definitions

  1. small elephant hawk-moth

Ancestry of “pikkukiitäjä”, step by step

pikkukiitäjä traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish kiitäjä

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishkiitäjähawk moth, sphinx moth, sphingid; hornworm; swift
2Finnishice
3Proto-Finno-Ugric*ja
4Proto-Germanicjahwand, also
5Proto-Germanic-hwand; Forms distributives from interrogatives
6Proto-Germanic-hwe
7Proto-Indo-European-kʷeand; Forms distributives from interrogatives

via Finnish pikku

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishpikkulittle, small; little old
2Finnishpienilittle, small; Third-person singular indicative...
3Proto-Finnicpeenilittle, small; fine
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -kʷe