Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “dredfulnesse” come from?

dredfulnesse (Middle English) comes from Middle English dredful, from Middle English dred, from Middle English dreden, from Old English drǣdan, from Old English ondrǣdan, from Proto-West Germanic andarādan, from Proto-West Germanic anda-, from Proto-Germanic anda- — on, onto.

Ancestry of “dredfulnesse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishdredful—
2Middle Englishdred—
3Middle Englishdreden—
4Old Englishdrǣdanto fear, dread
5Old Englishondrǣdanto fear, dread
6Proto-West Germanicandarādanto be afraid, fear; to be in awe
7Proto-West Germanicanda-against, opposing; in return, back; facing,...
8Proto-Germanicanda-against, opposing; un-, de-
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éntiopposite; near; in front
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂éntsforehead; front
11Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ent-face; forehead; front
12Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂en-on, onto

Words derived from “dredfulnesse”

  • dreadfulness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂en- →