Where does “baleful” come from?

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

baleful (Middle English): evil, horrible, malicious; dangerous, harmful,...

Definitions

  1. evil, horrible, malicious; dangerous, harmful,...

Ancestry of “baleful”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishbealufulbaleful
2Old English-fulfull of; -ful
3Proto-Germanic-fullaz-ful
4Proto-Germanicfullazfull; the whole, the entire
5Proto-Indo-Europeanpl̥h₁nósfull
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₁-to fill

Words derived from “baleful”

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