Where does “aufbessern” come from?
aufbessern (German) comes from German bessern, from German besser, from German Besserwisser, from German wissen, from Middle High German wiȥȥen, from Old High German wiȥȥan, from Proto-West Germanic wītan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną — to see.
aufbessern (German): to improve; to raise
Ancestry of “aufbessern”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | German | bessern | to improve, to better |
| 2 | German | besser | comparative degree of gut; better; inflection of... |
| 3 | German | Besserwisser | know-it-all, wiseguy, wiseacre, smart aleck |
| 4 | German | wissen | to know; to be aware of; to remember |
| 5 | Middle High German | wiȥȥen | — |
| 6 | Old High German | wiȥȥan | — |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | wītan | to accuse, to blame |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | *witaną | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | wóyde | to have seen, to know |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | weyd- | to see |