Where does “-an” come from?

-an (Icelandic) comes from Old Norse -an, from Proto-Germanic -ōniz, from Proto-Germanic -niz, from Proto-Indo-European -nis.

Ancestry of “-an”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Norse-anUsed to derive nouns from class 2 weak verbs;...
2Proto-Germanic-ōnizForms abstract nouns from weak class 2 verbs
3Proto-Germanic-nizForms abstract nouns from verbal roots and stems
4Proto-Indo-European-nis—

Words derived from “-an”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -nis →Every word from Old Norse -an →Every word from Proto-Germanic -niz →