Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “in-” come from?

in- (Middle English) comes from Old English in-, from Old English in, from Proto-West Germanic *in, from Proto-Germanic in, from Proto-Indo-European én — in.

Ancestry of “in-”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishin-in, into; on, upon; internal, positioned on the...
2Old Englishinin; Alternative form of inn
3Proto-West Germanic*in—
4Proto-Germanicinin; into
5Proto-Indo-Europeanénin

Words derived from “in-”

  • informal
  • inadequate
  • inability
  • invariably
  • incapable
  • inconsistent
  • inappropriate
  • innumerable
  • insignificant
  • invalid
  • irresistible
  • invaluable
  • ineffective
  • involuntary
  • immoral
  • improbable
  • inefficient
  • insecurity
  • inexpensive
  • inorganic
  • inaccurate
  • imbalance
  • inexperienced
  • involuntarily
Every word from Proto-Indo-European én →