Where does “Fremdarbeiter” come from?

Fremdarbeiter (German) comes from German fremd, from Middle High German vremde, from Old High German fremidi, from Proto-West Germanic framiþī, from Proto-Germanic framaþiz, from Swedish fram, from Old Norse fram, from Proto-Germanic fram — passed , crossed.

Fremdarbeiter (German): migrant worker

Definitions

  1. migrant worker

Ancestry of “Fremdarbeiter”, step by step

Fremdarbeiter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German fremd

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanfremdstrange; foreign; external
2Middle High Germanvremdestranger, foreigner; strange, foreign
3Old High Germanfremidi—
4Proto-West Germanicframiþīforeign, strange
5Proto-Germanicframaþizforeign, alien, strange
6Swedishframforward, in front
7Old Norseframforward, forth
8Proto-Germanicframfrom; by, due to; forth, forward
9Proto-Germanicframazforward, prominent
10Proto-Indo-Europeanprom-forth, forward
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
12Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
13Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

via German arbeiter

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanarbeiterworker male or of unspecified gender
2Middle High Germanarbeiterday laborer; craftsman
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →Every word from Proto-Indo-European per- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European por- →