Where does “vorsichtshalber” come from?
vorsichtshalber (German) comes from German Vorsicht, from German vorsichtig, from German -ig, from German -jährig, from German Jahr, from Middle High German jār, from Old High German jār, from Proto-West Germanic jār — year.
vorsichtshalber (German): as a precaution
Ancestry of “vorsichtshalber”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | German | Vorsicht | caution, cautiousness; Beware! |
| 2 | German | vorsichtig | deliberate ; careful, cautious, wary,... |
| 3 | German | -ig | -y; forms adjectives from nouns; forms adjectives... |
| 4 | German | -jährig | years old; years lasting |
| 5 | German | Jahr | year |
| 6 | Middle High German | jār | year |
| 7 | Old High German | jār | year |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | jār | year |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | jērą | year; name of the J-rune |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | yeh₁r- | year |