Where does “dafürkönnen” come from?
dafürkönnen (German) comes from German können, from Middle High German künnen, from Old High German kunnan, from Proto-West Germanic kunnan, from Proto-Germanic kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European ǵneh₃- — to know.
dafürkönnen (German): to be able to help it
Definitions
- to be able to help it
Ancestry of “dafürkönnen”, step by step
dafürkönnen traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German können
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | können | to be able (to do or be something), to have the possibility of, can |
| 2 | Middle High German | künnen | to know |
| 3 | Old High German | kunnan | to be able to |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | kunnan | to recognise; to know how, to be able |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | kunnaną | to know, to be familiar with, to recognise; to... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵneh₃- | to know |
via German dafür
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | dafür | for that, for it |