Where does “헛걸음” come from?

헛걸음 (Korean) comes from Korean 걸음, from Korean 걷다, from Korean 거두다 — To harvest; To gather or collect; To earn.

헛걸음 (Korean): fruitless undertaking

Definitions

  1. fruitless undertaking

Ancestry of “헛걸음”, step by step

헛걸음 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Korean 걸음

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean걸음A step or steps; Going by or past somewhere
2Korean걷다to walk; to fold up; to roll up
3Korean거두다To harvest; To gather or collect; To earn

via Korean

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Koreanempty, useless, ineffective; wrongly, incorrectly
Every word from Korean 거두다Every word from Korean 걷다Every word from Korean 걸음
헛걸음 — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer