Where does “winsome” come from?
winsome (Middle English) comes from Old English wynsum, from Proto-West Germanic wunnjusam, from Proto-West Germanic wunnju, from Proto-Germanic wunjō, from Proto-Indo-European wn̥h₁yeh₂, from Proto-Indo-European wenh₁- — to love.
Ancestry of “winsome”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | wynsum | pleasant; joyful |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | wunnjusam | joyful, delightful |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | wunnju | joy |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | wunjō | joy, delight, pleasure, lust; name of the W-rune |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wn̥h₁yeh₂ | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wenh₁- | to love |
Words derived from “winsome”