Etymology Explorer › Serbo-Croatian

Where does “žal” come from?

žal (Serbo-Croatian) comes from Greek γιαλός, from Byzantine Greek γιαλός, from Ancient Greek Αἰγιαλός, from Ancient Greek ἅλς, from Ancient Greek -ῐος, from Proto-Indo-European -yós — Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems.

žal (Serbo-Croatian): sorrow, grief; strand, beach

Definitions

  1. sorrow, grief; strand, beach

Ancestry of “žal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Greekγιαλόςseashore, beach
2Byzantine Greekγιαλός—
3Ancient GreekΑἰγιαλός—
4Ancient Greekἅλςsalt; brine; sea
5Ancient Greek-ῐοςbelonging to; of”, “belonging to”, “pertaining to
6Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “žal”

  • žalost
  • nažalost
  • žalostan
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →