Etymology Explorer › Old High German

Where does “nazi” come from?

nazi (Old High German) comes from Old High German -ī, from Proto-West Germanic -ī, from Proto-Germanic -į̄, from Proto-Indo-European -íh₂, from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ — Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...

Ancestry of “nazi”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old High German-ī-ness
2Proto-West Germanic-ī-ness, -th
3Proto-Germanic-į̄-th
4Proto-Indo-European-íh₂—
5Proto-Indo-European-h₂Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ →