Where does “Nachtfalter” come from?

Nachtfalter (German) comes from German Falter, from German -er, from Old High German -āri, from Proto-West Germanic -ārī, from Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, from Latin -ārius, from Proto-Italic *-āzios — Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals).

Nachtfalter (German): moth

Definitions

  1. moth

Ancestry of “Nachtfalter”, step by step

Nachtfalter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Falter

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanFalteran insect of the order Lepidoptera, i.e. a...
2German-erForms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to...
3Old High German-āriused to form agent nouns
4Proto-West Germanic-ārī-er
5Proto-Germanic-ārijaz-er
6Latin-āriuser
7Proto-Italic*-āziosForms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals)

via German nacht

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germannachtnight
2Middle High Germannahtnight
3Old High Germannahtnight
4Proto-West Germanicnahtnight
5Proto-Germanicnahtsnight
6Proto-Indo-Europeannókʷtsnight
7Proto-Indo-Europeannegʷ-bare, naked
Every word from Proto-Italic *-āziosEvery word from Latin -āriusEvery word from German -er