Where does “smerten” come from?
smerten (Middle Low German) comes from Old Dutch smertan, from Proto-Germanic smertaną, from Proto-Indo-European (s)merd- — to bite, to sting.
Ancestry of “smerten”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Dutch | smertan | — |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | smertaną | to hurt |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)merd- | to bite, to sting |