Where does “wostian” come from?
wostian (Old Saxon) comes from Proto-West Germanic wōstijan, from Proto-West Germanic -jan, from Proto-Germanic -janą, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
wostian (Old Saxon): to ravage, to spoil
Ancestry of “wostian”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Proto-West Germanic | wōstijan | to devastate, lay waste |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | -jan | Creates denominative verbs from nouns; Creates... |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 6 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |