Where does “Zwergfledermaus” come from?

Zwergfledermaus (German) comes from German Fledermaus, from Middle High German vledermūs, from Old High German fledarmūs, from Old High German mūs, from Proto-West Germanic mūs, from Proto-Germanic mūs, from Proto-Indo-European múh₂s — mouse.

Zwergfledermaus (German): pipistrelle any bat in the genus

Definitions

  1. pipistrelle any bat in the genus

Ancestry of “Zwergfledermaus”, step by step

Zwergfledermaus traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Fledermaus

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanFledermausmicrobat; bat
2Middle High Germanvledermūs—
3Old High Germanfledarmūs—
4Old High Germanmūsmouse
5Proto-West Germanicmūsmouse
6Proto-Germanicmūsmouse
7Proto-Indo-Europeanmúh₂smouse

via German Zwerg

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanZwergdwarf; dwarf, midget; gnome
2Middle High Germantwerc—
3Old High Germantwercdwarf
4Proto-West Germanicdwergdwarf
5Proto-Germanicdwergazdwarf
Every word from Proto-Indo-European múh₂s →Every word from Proto-Germanic mūs →Every word from Proto-West Germanic mūs →