Where does “ritter” come from?
ritter (Middle High German) comes from Dutch ridder, from Middle Dutch riddere, from Middle Dutch rîdere, from Old Dutch rīdere, from Old Dutch rīdan, from Proto-West Germanic rīdan, from Proto-Germanic rīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European rēydʰ- — to fit, to fix, to put together.
Ancestry of “ritter”, step by step
ritter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Dutch ridder
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dutch | ridder | A knight; One of certain butterflies of the... |
| 2 | Middle Dutch | riddere | — |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | rîdere | — |
| 4 | Old Dutch | rīdere | — |
| 5 | Old Dutch | rīdan | to ride |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | rīdan | to ride |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | rīdaną | to ride |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | rēydʰ- | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |
via Middle Dutch ridder
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle Dutch | ridder | — |