Where does “grenen” come from?
grenen (Middle English) comes from Old English grēnian, from Proto-Germanic *grōnijan, from Proto-Germanic grōnijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “grenen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old English | grēnian | to become green, flourish |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | *grōnijan | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | grōnijaną | to make green, to paint green; to become green,... |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 7 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |