Where does “가엾다” come from?

가엾다 (Korean) comes from Korean 가, from Chinese 價.

가엾다 (Korean): to be pitiful

Definitions

  1. to be pitiful

Ancestry of “가엾다”, step by step

가엾다 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Korean 가

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean가The outer part close to the boundary; A part...
2Chinese價—

via Korean 없다

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean없다to have none; lacking; nonexistent; to die
2Middle Korean없다—

via Korean —이

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean—이For non-honorific nouns ending in consonants, the nominative case particle marking it as the subject of a verb or adjective; see also Usage Notes
2Middle Korean이person
Every word from Chinese 價 →Every word from Korean 가 →