MarcusBennevall/EtymologyTaggerDataset huggingface dataset:
shoe
Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *skōhaz
Proto-West Germanic *skōh
Old English sċōh
Middle English scho
English shoe
From Middle English scho, sho, from Old English sċōh (“shoe”), from Proto-West Germanic *skōh, from Proto-Germanic *skōhaz (“shoe”), of unclear etymology; possibly a derivation from *skehaną (“to move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to move quickly, jump”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English sabatine, sabatoun (“shoe”) from Medieval Latin sabatēnum, sabatum (“shoe, slipper”) (compare Old Occitan sabatō, Spanish zapato (“shoe”), French sabot (“wooden shoe, clog”), Italian ciabatta). The archaic plural shoon is from Middle English shon, from Old English scōn, scōum (“shoes”, dative plural) and scōna (“shoes'”, genitive plural); it is cognate with Scots shuin (“shoes”). See also Scots shae, West Frisian skoech, Low German Schoh, Dutch schoen, German Schuh, Bavarian Schuach, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish sko, Tocharian B skāk (“balcony”).
skirt
From Middle English skyrte, from Old Norse skyrta, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ. Doublet of shirt. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Skoarte (“apron”), Dutch schort (“apron”), German Schürze (“apron”), Danish skørt (“skirt”), Swedish skört (“hem of a jacket”), Norwegian skjørt (“skirt”).
polyeidic
From poly- + Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos, “form”) + -ic.
et cetera
From Middle English et cetera, from Latin et cētera (“and the other things; and the rest of the things”).
spelt
From Middle English spelt, from Old English spelt (“spelt, corn”), from Old Saxon spelta (“spelt”); or from Late Latin spelta (“spelt”), from Frankish *spelta (“spelt”); all from Proto-Germanic *spiltaz (“spelt”).
The noun is from Middle English spelt, from Old English spelt, connected with the verb. Compare speld and German Spelze (“husk”).
The adjective is from Middle English spelt, probably a contraction of spelked, past participle of spelken (“to bruise (beans)”), itself of obscure origin. Compare Scots spilkings (“split peas”), the later verb, and perhaps also splet.
The verb is probably from the adjective. Compare earlier spald, speld.
speak
From Middle English speke, speken (“to speak”), from Old English specan (“to speak”). This is usually taken to be an irregular alteration of earlier sprecan, spreocan (“to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną (“to speak, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *spreg- (“to make a sound, utter, speak”). Finding this proposed loss of r from the stable cluster spr unparalleled, Hill instead sets up a different root, Proto-West Germanic *spekan (“to negotiate”) from Proto-Indo-European *bʰégʾ-e- (“to distribute”) with *s-mobile, which collapsed in meaning with *sprekan ("to speak" < "to crackle, prattle") and so came to be seen as a free variant thereof.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots speak, speik (“to speak”), Saterland Frisian spreke (“to speak”), West Frisian sprekke (“to speak”), Central Franconian sjprèche (“to speak”), Dutch and Low German spreken (“to speak”), German sprechen (“to speak”), Luxembourgish spriechen (“to speak”), and also with Albanian shpreh (“to express, manifest, show”) through Indo-European.
substance
Inherited from Middle English substance, from Old French substance, from Latin substantia (“substance, essence”), from substāns, present active participle of substō (“exist”, literally “stand under”), from sub + stō (“stand”). Displaced native Old English andweorc.
straight
From Middle English streight, streght, streiȝt, the past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”), from Old English streċċan (past participle ġestreaht, ġestreht), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch”). Cognate with Scots straicht (“straight”), Dutch gestrekt (“stretched”), German gestreckt (“stretched”), Danish strakt (“stretched”), Faroese and Norn strekti (“stretched”), Icelandic strekkti (“stretched”), Norwegian strekte (“stretched”), Swedish sträckte (“stretched”). Doublet of straught. Equivalent to stretch + -ed.
In some senses, conflated with strait (“narrow, constricted”), which is from Latin strictus via Old French estreit.
thunder
From Middle English thunder, thonder, thundre, thonre, thunnere, þunre, from Old English þunor (“thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *þunr, from Proto-Germanic *þunraz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ten-, *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”).
Compare astound, astonish, stun. Germanic cognates include West Frisian tonger, Dutch donder, German Donner, Old Norse Þórr (English Thor), Danish torden, Norwegian Nynorsk tore. Other cognates include Persian تندر (tondar), Latin tonō, detonō, Ancient Greek στένω (sténō), στενάζω (stenázō), στόνος (stónos), Στέντωρ (Sténtōr), Irish torann, Welsh taran, Gaulish Taranis. Doublet of donner, Thunor, and Thor.
From Middle English thundren, from Old English þunrian (“to thunder”), from Proto-West Germanic *þunrōn, from Proto-Germanic *þunrōną (“to thunder”).
zenith
From Middle English cenyth, from Medieval Latin cenit, from Arabic سَمْت (samt, “direction, path”), from the fuller form سَمْت اَلرَّأْس (samt ar-raʔs, “direction of the head”). The -ni- for -m- is sometimes thought to be due to a misreading of the three strokes, which is plausible, though it could be a mere phonetic approximation.
secretary
From Medieval Latin secrētārius (“one entrusted with secrets”), from Latin secrētus (“private, secret”), past participle of secernere (“to separate, set apart”), from se- (“apart”) + cernere (“to separate”).
involuntary
From in- + voluntary, from Late Latin involontarius, from in + volontarius.
ye
From Middle English ye, ȝe, from Old English ġē (“ye”), the nominative case of the second-person plural personal pronoun, from Proto-West Germanic *jiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *jīz, a North-West variant of Proto-Germanic *jūz (“ye”), from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs (“ye”), plural of *túh₂. Cognate with Scots ye (“ye”), Saterland Frisian jie, Dutch gij, ge, jij, je (“ye”), Low German ji, jie (“ye”), German ihr (“ye”), Danish and Swedish I (“ye”), Icelandic ér (“ye”), Latvian jūs (“ye”), Sanskrit यूयम् (yūyám, “ye”). See also you.
From Middle English þe. Early press typographies in late 15th century lacked the letter þ (“thorn”), for which the letter y was substituted due to their resemblance in blackletter hand (etymological y was for a while distinguished by a dot, ẏ (14th c.–15th c.)). Short form yͤ continued long after the digraph th had replaced þ elsewhere.
"Ye" for "þe" continued in manuscripts through the 18th century. The practice was revived in the United Kingdom in the 19th century as a deliberate antiquarianism in shop names, thus the Ye Olde ... Shoppe construction.
From Russian е (je).
Romanization of the Chinese surname 葉 /叶 (Yè).
thy
From Middle English þi, apocopated variant of þin, from Old English þīn, from Proto-West Germanic *þīn, from Proto-Germanic *þīnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *téynos (“thy; thine”), from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“thou”). See thou.
thine
From Middle English thyn, þyn, from Old English þīn, from Proto-West Germanic *þīn, from Proto-Germanic *þīnaz. Cognate to German dein, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian din, Faroese tín and Icelandic þinn.
bug
First attested in this form around 1620 (referring to a “bedbug”), from earlier bugge (“beetle”), from Middle English bugge (“scarecrow, hobgoblin”) which is traced alternatively to:
* a Celtic root found in Scots bogill (“goblin, bugbear”) and obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat, fear”) and Middle Irish bocanách (“supernatural being”).
* Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge (“goblin, snot”).
* or to a word related to buck and originally referring to a goat-shaped spectre.
For the “insect” meaning the assonance with Middle English budde (“beetle”), from Old English budda, from Proto-Germanic *buddô, *buzdô, from the same ultimate source as above, might have played a role. Compare Low German Budde (“louse, grub”), Norwegian budda (“newborn domestic animal”). More at bud. But ultimately this convergence of meaning doesn't prove a conflation of the two terms; they might have existed in parallel since PIE times with similar meanings, even if unnoticed by literary sources.
The term is used to refer to technical errors and problems at least as early as the 19th century, predating the commonly known story of a moth being caught in a computer.
brief
From Middle English breef, breve, bref, from Old French brief, bref, from Latin brevis (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short, brief”). Doublet of breve and merry.
together
From Late Middle English together, from earlier togedere, togadere, from Old English tōgædere (“together”), from Proto-West Germanic *tōgadura, *tegadura, from Proto-Germanic *tō (“to”) + *gadar (“together”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to unite, keep”), equivalent to to-₂ + gather. Cognate with Scots thegither (“together”), Old Frisian togadera (whence West Frisian togearre (“together”)), Dutch tegader (“together”), Middle Low German tōgāder (“together”), Middle High German zegater (“together”). Compare also Old English ætgædere (“together”), Old English ġeador (“together”). More at gather.
why
From Middle English why, from Old English hwȳ (“why”), from Proto-Germanic *hwī (“by what, how”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey, instrumental case of *kʷís (“who”), *kʷid (“what”).
Cognate with Old Saxon hwī (“why”), hwiu (“how; why”), Middle High German wiu (“how, why”), archaic Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvi (“why”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvi (“why”), Swedish vi (“why”), Faroese and Icelandic hví (“why”), Latin quī (“why”), Doric Greek πεῖ (peî, “where”), Ukrainian чи (čy, “if”), Polish czy, Czech či (“or”), Serbo-Croatian či (“if”). Compare Old English þȳ (“because, since, on that account, therefore, then”, literally “by that, for that”). See thy.
when
From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base).
Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who.
Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".
where
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *kʷ-
Proto-Indo-European *kʷís
Proto-Germanic *hwaz
Proto-Indo-European *-r
Proto-Germanic *-r
Proto-Germanic *hwar
Proto-West Germanic *hwār
Old English hwǣr
Middle English wher
English where
From Middle English wher, from Old English hwǣr (“where”, literally “at what place”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwār, from Proto-Germanic *hwar (“where”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- (interrogative pronoun).
mow
From Middle English mowen (participle mowen), from Old English māwan (past tense mēow, past participle māwen), from Proto-West Germanic *māan, from Proto-Germanic *mēaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂meh₁- (“to mow, reap”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian mjo (“to mow”), Dutch maaien (“to mow”), German mähen (“to mow”), Luxembourgish méien (“to mow”), Danish meje (“to mow”), Swedish meja (“to mow”); see also Hittite [script needed] (ḫamešḫa, “spring/early summer”, literally “mowing time”), Latin metō (“to harvest, mow”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to mow”).
From Middle English mowe, from Old French moe (“grimace”), from Frankish *mauwa (“pout, protruding lip”), from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“muff, sleeve”). Akin to Middle Dutch mouwe (“protruding lip”). Doublet of moue ("pout").
From Middle English mowe, form Old English mūga, mūha, from Proto-West Germanic *mūgō, *mūhō, from Proto-Germanic *mūgô, *mūhō; perhaps connected to Ancient Greek μύκων (múkōn, “heap”). Cognate with Norwegian muge (“heap, crowd, flock”).
bra
Clipping of brassiere, borrowed from French brassière, from Old French braciere (originally a lining inside armor to protect the arm, but later a garment), from Old French brace (“arm”), from Latin bracchia, plural of Latin bracchium (“forearm”), from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “forearm”), from Proto-Hellenic *brəkʰús (“short”) (because the forearm is shorter than the upper arm), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus.
ducat
From Middle French ducat, late Old French ducat, from Old Italian ducato, from Medieval Latin ducātus, from oblique stem of dux (“duke; leader”). Doublet of duchy.
English occupational surname for a moneylender or minter or a nickname for a rich man, from Old French ducat (“name of a gold coin”). Also borrowed from French Ducat.
addition
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Proto-Italic *ad-
Latin ad-
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tder.
Proto-Italic *-ðō
Latin -dō
Latin addō
Latin additiōder.
Old French aditionder.
Middle English addicioun
English addition
Sense of “what is added” dates from 14th century, from Middle English addicioun, addition, from Old French adition, from Latin additiōnem, accusative singular of additiō, from addō (“add, put”).
among
Etymology tree
Old English on
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Germanic *ga-
Proto-West Germanic *ga-
Old English ġe-
Old English mang
Old English ġemang
Old English onġemang
Old English amang
Middle English among
English among
The preposition is derived from Middle English among, amang, amange, amonge (“in the presence of, amid, among; in, within; between; during”), from Old English amang, onġemang (preposition), from on (“on, among, in”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂en- (“on, onto”)) + ġemang (“crowd; mixture”, noun) (from ġe- (prefix forming nouns denoting association or similarity) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by; near; with”)) + mang- (from mængan, mengan (“to mingle, mix”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *menk- (“to knead; to press”))). By surface analysis, a- (prefix meaning ‘at; in; on’) + mong (“crowd, throng; group”).
The adverb is derived from Middle English among, amang (“accompanied by, along with, by the side of, in association with, together; all the while, continually; also, besides; at the same time; from time to time, occasionally; meanwhile; within”), from Old English onġemang (adverb): see further above.
cognates
* Dutch mank, maank (“among”)
* German mang (“among”) (dialectal)
* German Low German mank, manken (“among”)
* Saterland Frisian monk, monken (“among”)
* West Frisian mank (“among”)
apparatus
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Proto-Italic *ad-
Latin ad-
Proto-Indo-European *perh₃-der.
Latin parō
Latin apparō
Proto-Indo-European *-tus
Proto-Italic *-tus
Latin -tus
Latin apparātuslbor.
English apparatus
Learned borrowing from Latin apparātus. Doublet of apparat.
attack
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Proto-Italic *ad-
Latin ad-
Italian a-
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is-
Proto-Italic *dis-
Latin dis-
Old French des-
Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg-
Proto-Germanic *stikaną
Proto-West Germanic *stekander.
Old French atachier
Old French destachier
Middle French destacherbor.
Italian distaccare
Italian staccare
Italian attaccarebor.
French attaquer
French attaquebor.
English attack
Borrowed from French attaque, derived from the verb attaquer, from Italian attaccare (“to join, attach”) (used in attaccare battaglia (“to join battle”)), from Frankish *stakkijan (“to stick, stick to, attach”). Doublet of attach. Displaced native Middle English onresen, from Old English onrǣsan (“to attack”); and Middle English resinge (“an assault, attack”) (compare Old English onrǣs (“an attack”)).
attempt
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Proto-Italic *ad-
Latin ad-
Latin temptō
Latin attemptōder.
Old French atempterbor.
Middle English attempten
English attempt
Late 14th century, as Middle English attempten, from Old French atempter, from Latin attemptō (“to try, solicit”), from ad- (“to”) + temptō; see tempt.
The noun is from the 1530s, the sense "an assault on somebody's life, assassination attempt" (French attentat) is from 1580. By surface analysis, at- + tempt.
overcast
From Middle English overcasten, equivalent to over- + cast. Compare Swedish överkast.
overcome
Inherited from Middle English overcomen, inherited from Old English ofercuman (“to overcome, subdue, compel, conquer, obtain, attain, reach, overtake”). By surface analysis, over- + come. Cognate with Dutch overkomen, German überkommen, Danish overkomme, Swedish överkomma.
overdo
From Middle English overdon, from Old English oferdōn, equivalent to over- + do.
overdone
From Middle English overdon, from Old English oferdōn, equivalent to over- + done.
claque
Borrowed from French claque (“group of people hired to applaud or boo, claque”, literally “a slap; a clap”).
leet
From Scots leet, leit, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old French lite, litte, variant of liste (“list”); or from Old Norse leiti, hleyti (“a share, portion”) (compare Old English hlēt (“share, lot”)); or an aphaeretic shortening of French élite.
From Old English lēt, past tense of lǣtan (“to let”).
Originated 1400–50 from late Middle English lete (“meeting”), from Anglo-Norman lete and Medieval Latin leta (Anglo-Latin), possibly from Old English ġelǣte (“crossroads”).
From Middle English lete, from Old English ġelǣt, ġelǣte, from Proto-Germanic *galētą, *lētą. More at leat.
Topographic surname for someone who lived near a road junction, from Old English ġelǣte (“intersection, crossroads”).
shrike
From Middle English *schrike, *schryke, from Old English sċrīc (“shrike, thrush”), from the same root as shriek and screech, named after the bird's cry. Compare Icelandic skríkja (“shrieker, shrike”), Swedish skrika (“jay”).
myself
From Middle English myself, meself, from Old English mē selfum and similar phrases, equivalent to me + self, later partly reinterpreted as my + self / -self. Cognate with Scots mysel, mysell (“myself”), West Frisian mysels (“myself”), Dutch mijzelf (“myself”), German mich selbst, mir selbst (“myself”), Norwegian Bokmål meg selv (“myself”).
y'all
Contraction of you all, and/or from Scots ye aw. Attested since at least 1631.
Compare Dutch jullie (originally jij lui (literally “you people”)) for a similar development of a new plural pronoun out of Proto-Germanic *jīz that originally was already plural.
verbal
From Old French verbal, from Late Latin verbālis (“belonging to a word”). Equivalent to verb + -al.
boot
From Middle English boote, bote (“shoe”), from Old French bote (“a high, thick shoe”). Of obscure origin, but probably related to Old French bot (“club-foot”), bot (“fat, short, blunt”), from Old Frankish *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz, *butaz (“cut off, short, numb, blunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewt-, *bʰewd- (“to strike, push, shock”); if so, a doublet of butt. Compare Old Norse butt (“stump”), Low German butt (“blunt, plump”), Old English bytt (“small piece of land”), buttuc (“end”). More at buttock and debut.
From Middle English boote, bote, bot, from Old English bōt (“help, relief, advantage”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōtu, from Proto-Germanic *bōtō (“atonement, improvement”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰed- (“good”).
Akin to Old Norse bót (“bettering, remedy”) (Danish bod), Gothic 𐌱𐍉𐍄𐌰 (bōta), German Buße. Doublet of bote (a borrowing from Middle English).
* As an English surname, from the noun boot.
* As a Dutch and German surname, from Bote (“messenger”), compare Bode. Also an occupational surname for a boatman, from boot.
chronology
Etymology tree
Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos)bor.
English chrono-
Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-
Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos)
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂
Proto-Hellenic *-íā
Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)
Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā)bor.
Latin -logialbor.
French -logiebor.
English -logy
English chronology
From chrono- (“relating to time”) + -logy (“study of, account of”), after New Latin chronologia from Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos, “time”) + λόγος (lógos, “reason, explanation”). Literally "time reason" in Modern Greek.
metaphor
From Middle French métaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Ancient Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá), from μεταφέρω (metaphérō, “to transfer, apply”), from μετά (metá, “with, across, after”) + φέρω (phérō, “to bear, carry”).
simile
From Latin simile (“comparison, likeness, parallel”) (first attested 1393), originally from simile, neuter form of similis (“like, similar, resembling”). Compare English similar.
pronominal
From Late Latin prōnōminālis, from Latin prōnōmen, prōnōminis. By surface analysis, pro- + nominal.
scissors
From Middle English sisours (attested since 1350–1400), from Old French cisoirs, from Late Latin cīsōria, plural of cīsōrium (“cutting tool”); from Latin word root -cīsus (compare excise) or caesus, past participle of caedō (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English sċēara (“scissors, shears”), whence shears. Doublet of chisel.
The current spelling, from the 16th century, is due to association with Medieval Latin scissor (“tailor”), from Latin carrying the meaning “carver, cutter”, from scindō (“to split”).
separate
From Middle English separaten (“to separate”), from separat (“separated”) + -en, from Latin sēparātus, perfect passive participle of sēparō (“to separate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from sē- (“apart”) + parō (“prepare”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“produce, procure, bring forward, bring forth”). Displaced Middle English scheden, from Old English scēadan (whence English shed).
Doublet of sever, also derived from the same Latin verb.
From Middle English separat, see -ate (“adjective-forming suffix”) and Etymology 1 for more.
brush
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰers-
Proto-Indo-European *-tis
Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥stís
Proto-Germanic *burstiz
Frankish *burstibor.
Vulgar Latin *brustia
Old French broissebor.
Middle English brusshe
English brush
From Middle English brusshe, from Old French broisse (Modern French brosse), from Vulgar Latin *brustia, from Frankish *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (“bristle”), or also Vulgar Latin *bruscia, from Proto-Germanic *bruskaz (“tuft, thicket, underbrush”), which could be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusgo-.
cough
From Middle English coughen, coghen (“to cough; to vomit”) [and other forms], from Old English *cohhian (compare Old English cohhetan (“to bluster; to riot; to cough (?)”)), from Proto-West Germanic *kuh- (“to cough”), ultimately of onomatopoeic origin.
Cognates
* Middle Dutch cuchen (“to cough”) (modern Dutch kuchen (“to cough”); German Low German kuchen (“to cough”))
* Middle High German kûchen (“to breathe (on); to exhale”), kîchen (“to breathe with difficulty”) (modern German keichen, keuchen (“to breathe with difficulty; to gasp, pant”))
* Spanish cof (“coughing sound”)
* West Frisian kiche (“to cough”), kochelje (“to cough persistently”)
The noun is derived from Middle English cough (“a cough; illness causing coughing”) [and other forms], from coughen (verb): see etymology 1.
The interjection is probably derived from the noun.
building
From Middle English byldynge, buyldyng, byldyng, buldynge, buldyng, boldyng, equivalent to build + -ing. Compare also related Middle English bold (“edifice, castle, mansion”), from Old English bold (“building, dwelling, house”).
From Middle English beeldynge, equivalent to build + -ing.
belief
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ-der.
Proto-Germanic *laubō
Proto-West Germanic *laubu
Old English lēafa
Middle English bileve
English belief
From Middle English bileve, from Old English lēafa, from Proto-West Germanic *laubu from Proto-Germanic *laubō. Compare German Glaube (“faith, belief”).
The replacement of final /v/ with /f/ is due to the analogy of noun-verb pairs with /f/ in the noun but /v/ in the verb, creating a pair belief : believe on the model of e.g. grief : grieve or proof : prove.