Where does “ritter” come from?
ritter (German) comes from Middle High German ritter, from Dutch ridder, from Middle Dutch riddere, from Middle Dutch rîdere, from Old Dutch rīdere, from Old Dutch rīdan, from Proto-West Germanic rīdan, from Proto-Germanic rīdaną — to fit, to fix, to put together.
Ancestry of “ritter”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle High German | ritter | — |
| 2 | Dutch | ridder | A knight; One of certain butterflies of the... |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | riddere | — |
| 4 | Middle Dutch | rîdere | — |
| 5 | Old Dutch | rīdere | — |
| 6 | Old Dutch | rīdan | — |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | rīdan | to ride |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | rīdaną | to ride |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | rēydʰ- | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |