Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “breedthe” come from?

breedthe (Middle English) comes from Middle English brede, from Old English bred, from Old English -en, from Old Norse -inn, from Proto-Norse -īna-, from Proto-Germanic -īnaz, from Proto-Indo-European -iHnos, from Proto-Indo-European -no- — adjectival suffix.

Ancestry of “breedthe”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishbredeAlternative form of breiden; Alternative form of...
2Old Englishbredsurface; plank, board; table, tablet
3Old English-enmæġþ + API → mæġden; cocc + API → cycen, cicen;...
4Old Norse-innUsed to create adjectives from nouns, meaning...
5Proto-Norse-īna-—
6Proto-Germanic-īnaz-en
7Proto-Indo-European-iHnosCreates adjectives of materials
8Proto-Indo-European-no-adjectival suffix

Words derived from “breedthe”

  • breadth
  • hairbreadth
  • overbreadth
  • hairsbreadth
  • fingerbreadth
  • handsbreadth
  • breadthwise
  • breadthless
  • footbreadth
  • fingersbreadth
  • breadthen
  • thumbsbreadth
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -no- →