Where does “gemêen” come from?
gemêen (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Dutch gimēni, from Proto-West Germanic gamainī, from Proto-Germanic gamainiz, from Proto-Indo-European ḱom-moynis.
Ancestry of “gemêen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old Dutch | gimēni | — |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | gamainī | common; shared, communal |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | gamainiz | shared, communal, public; common, ordinary |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moynis | — |