Where does “足がすくむ” come from?

足がすくむ (Japanese) comes from Japanese 足, from Old Japanese 足.

足がすくむ (Japanese): to be unable to move (from fear)

Definitions

  1. to be unable to move (from fear)

Ancestry of “足がすくむ”, step by step

足がすくむ traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 足

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese足foot; 脚 leg
2Old Japanese足—

via Japanese が

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseがIndicates the subject of a sentence; conjunction;...
2Finnish-nkaForms nouns, mainly bird names (in dialects) and some toponyms

via Japanese 竦む

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese竦む—
Every word from Old Japanese 足 →Every word from Japanese 足 →