Where does “Nichtswisserin” come from?
Nichtswisserin (German) comes from German Nichtswisser, from German wissen, from German Besserwisser, from German besser, from Middle High German beȥȥer, from Old High German beȥȥiro, from Proto-West Germanic *batiʀō, from Proto-Germanic batizô — to join; to unite; to suit.
Ancestry of “Nichtswisserin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Nichtswisser | ignoramus |
| 2 | German | wissen | to know; to be aware of; to remember |
| 3 | German | Besserwisser | know-it-all, wiseguy, wiseacre, smart aleck |
| 4 | German | besser | comparative degree of gut; better; inflection of... |
| 5 | Middle High German | beȥȥer | — |
| 6 | Old High German | beȥȥiro | better |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | *batiʀō | better |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | batizô | comparative degree of *gōdaz; comparative degree... |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | gōdaz | good |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | gadaną | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰedʰ- | to join; to unite; to suit |