Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “unknitten” come from?

unknitten (Middle English) comes from Old English uncnyttan, from Old English cnyttan, from Proto-West Germanic *knuttijan, from Proto-Germanic knuttijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.

Ancestry of “unknitten”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishuncnyttanto unknot, untie
2Old Englishcnyttanto tie; bind; to knot; to knit
3Proto-West Germanic*knuttijan—
4Proto-Germanicknuttijanąto bind into a knot; to tie with a knot
5Proto-Germanic-janąDerives denominatives from nouns and factitives...
6Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
7Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-—
8Chichewaiyehe, she

Words derived from “unknitten”

  • unknit
Every word from Chichewa iye →