Where does “vitsailija” come from?

vitsailija (Finnish) comes from Finnish vitsailla, from Finnish vitsi, from German witz, from Middle High German witz, from Old High German wizzi, from Proto-West Germanic wītī, from Proto-Germanic witją, from Proto-Germanic *witaną — to see.

vitsailija (Finnish): joker one who tells jokes

Definitions

  1. joker one who tells jokes

Ancestry of “vitsailija”, step by step

vitsailija traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish vitsailla

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FinnishvitsaillaTo joke, jest
2Finnishvitsijoke
3Germanwitzjoke
4Middle High Germanwitz—
5Old High Germanwizzi—
6Proto-West Germanicwītīpunishment
7Proto-Germanicwitjąknowledge; reason; sense; understanding; wit
8Proto-Germanic*witaną—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanwóydeto have seen, to know
10Proto-Indo-Europeanweyd-to see

via Finnish jä

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishjäice
2Proto-Finno-Ugric*ja—
3Proto-Germanicjahwand, also
4Proto-Germanic-hwand; Forms distributives from interrogatives
5Proto-Germanic-hwe—
6Proto-Indo-European-kʷeand; Forms distributives from interrogatives
Every word from Proto-Indo-European weyd- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European wóyde →Every word from Proto-Germanic *witaną →