Where does “bessere Hälfte” come from?
bessere Hälfte (German) comes 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, from Proto-Indo-European wóyde — to see.
bessere Hälfte (German): better half
Definitions
- better half
Ancestry of “bessere Hälfte”, step by step
bessere Hälfte traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German besser
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | besser | comparative degree of gut; better; inflection of... |
| 2 | German | Besserwisser | know-it-all, wiseguy, wiseacre, smart aleck |
| 3 | German | wissen | to know; to be aware of; to remember |
| 4 | Middle High German | wiȥȥen | to know |
| 5 | Old High German | wiȥȥan | to know |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | wītan | to accuse, to blame |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | *witaną | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wóyde | to have seen, to know |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | weyd- | to see |
via German Hälfte
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Hälfte | half; fifty percent of something; half, share;... |
| 2 | Middle Low German | helfte | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | halbiþō | half |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | halbaz | half |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kelH- | to cut; to split, to separate |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kel- | to bend, crook; bent, crooked; leg, heel, knee,... |