Where does “wissen” come from?
wissen (German) comes from German Besserwisser, from German besser, from Middle High German beȥȥer, from Old High German beȥȥiro, from Proto-West Germanic *batiʀō, from Proto-Germanic batizô, from Proto-Germanic gōdaz, from Proto-Germanic gadaną — to join; to unite; to suit.
wissen (German): to know; to be aware of; to remember
Definitions
- to know; to be aware of; to remember
Ancestry of “wissen”, step by step
wissen traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German Besserwisser
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Besserwisser | know-it-all, wiseguy, wiseacre, smart aleck |
| 2 | German | besser | comparative degree of gut; better; inflection of... |
| 3 | Middle High German | beȥȥer | — |
| 4 | Old High German | beȥȥiro | better |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | *batiʀō | better |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | batizô | comparative degree of *gōdaz; comparative degree... |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | gōdaz | good |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | gadaną | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰedʰ- | to join; to unite; to suit |