Where does “smirn” come from?
smirn (Middle High German) comes from Middle High German smirwen, from Old High German smirwen, from Proto-West Germanic *smirwijan, from Proto-Germanic smirwijaną, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “smirn”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle High German | smirwen | — |
| 2 | Old High German | smirwen | — |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *smirwijan | to smear |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | smirwijaną | to smear, anoint |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 8 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |