Where does “chīnen” come from?
chīnen (Middle English) comes from Old English ċīnan, from Proto-West Germanic *kīnan, from Proto-Germanic kīnaną, from Proto-Indo-European ǵey-n-, from Proto-Indo-European ǵey- — to split; divide; germinate; sprout; to split;...
chīnen (Middle English): to crack, fissure, split
Ancestry of “chīnen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | ċīnan | to break into pieces, burst, crack |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | *kīnan | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | kīnaną | to split open, sprout, germinate |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵey-n- | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵey- | to split; divide; germinate; sprout; to split;... |