Where does “wee” come from?

wee (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Dutch wē, from Old Dutch hwē, from Proto-West Germanic hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European kʷos, from Proto-Indo-European kʷ- — The primary interrogative root.

wee (Middle Dutch): woe!; unpleasant, painful; pain

Definitions

  1. woe!; unpleasant, painful; pain

Ancestry of “wee”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Dutchwē—
2Old Dutchhwē—
3Proto-West Germanichwaʀwho
4Proto-Germanichwazwho, what; whose; whom
5Proto-Indo-EuropeankʷosSee *kʷis
6Proto-Indo-Europeankʷ-The primary interrogative root
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷ- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷos →Every word from Proto-Germanic hwaz →