Where does “Quälgeist” come from?
Quälgeist (German) comes from German quälen, from Middle High German queln, from Old High German quellen, from Proto-West Germanic kwalljan, from Proto-Germanic kwaljaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé- — he, she.
Quälgeist (German): gadfly, pest
Definitions
- gadfly, pest
Ancestry of “Quälgeist”, step by step
Quälgeist traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German quälen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | quälen | to torture, torment, agonize; to toil, struggle |
| 2 | Middle High German | queln | — |
| 3 | Old High German | quellen | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | kwalljan | to make suffer, to hurt |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | kwaljaną | to make suffer, to hurt |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 9 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |