Where does “pitää silmäpeliä” come from?

pitää silmäpeliä (Finnish) comes from Finnish silmäpeli, from Finnish peli, from Middle Low German spel, from Old Saxon spil, from Proto-West Germanic spil — dance; game, exercise.

pitää silmäpeliä (Finnish): to give someone the eye, make eyes at

Definitions

  1. to give someone the eye, make eyes at

Ancestry of “pitää silmäpeliä”, step by step

pitää silmäpeliä traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish silmäpeli

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishsilmäpelieye flirtation
2Finnishpeligame; match, game; game; tool, means, implement,...
3Middle Low Germanspel—
4Old Saxonspil—
5Proto-West Germanicspildance; game, exercise

via Finnish pitää

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishpitääto hold, grasp, grip; to keep, take; to like, be...
2Proto-Finnicpitädäkto hold, to grasp; to keep
3Proto-Finno-Ugricpitä-—
Every word from Proto-West Germanic spil →Every word from Old Saxon spil →Every word from Middle Low German spel →