Etymology Explorer › Proto-Indo-European

Where does “-ess” come from?

-ess (Proto-Indo-European) comes from Proto-Indo-European -os — Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Ancestry of “-ess”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “-ess”

  • besides
  • yours
  • whilst
  • sports
  • hers
  • ours
  • earnings
  • hydrogen
  • hierarchy
  • Aristotle
  • bases
  • nitrogen
  • upstairs
  • Edwards
  • theirs
  • Phillips
  • es
  • Socrates
  • monarch
  • downstairs
  • backwards
  • evenings
  • homogeneous
  • ms
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →