Where does “gegenzeichnen” come from?
gegenzeichnen (German) comes from German zeichnen, from German Zeichen, from Middle High German zeichen, from Old High German zeihhan, from Proto-West Germanic taikn, from Proto-Germanic taikną, from Proto-Indo-European deyḱ- — to point out.
gegenzeichnen (German): to countersign
Ancestry of “gegenzeichnen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | German | zeichnen | to draw |
| 2 | German | Zeichen | characters, marks, sign; token |
| 3 | Middle High German | zeichen | — |
| 4 | Old High German | zeihhan | sign, symbol, feature; sign, symbol |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | taikn | sign, token, symbol |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | taikną | sign, token, symbol |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | deyḱ- | to point out |
Words derived from “gegenzeichnen”