Where does “-ful” come from?

-ful (Middle English) comes from Old English -ful, from Proto-Germanic -fullaz, from Proto-Germanic fullaz, from Proto-Indo-European pl̥h₁nós, from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- — to fill.

-ful (Middle English): Appended to nouns to form adjectives denoting...

Definitions

  1. Appended to nouns to form adjectives denoting...

Ancestry of “-ful”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old English-fulfull of; -ful
2Proto-Germanic-fullaz-ful
3Proto-Germanicfullazfull; the whole, the entire
4Proto-Indo-Europeanpl̥h₁nósfull
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₁-to fill

Words derived from “-ful”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European pl̥h₁nós →Every word from Proto-Germanic fullaz →