English
fuss
Fuss may come from Danish fjas ‘nonsense’.
- Danishmodernfjas‘nonsense’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1866fuss
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Danishmodernfjas‘nonsense’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1866fuss
Earliest quotation: 1866, Thomas Carlyle, Jane Welsh Carlyle: “Sickness did not last above a ten days; my…”
The story
Perhaps from Danish fjas (‘nonsense’), from Middle Low German (compare German faseln (‘to maunder, talk nonsense’)).
Every English word from Danish fjas
Today it means
noun Excessive activity, worry, bother, or talk about something.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Danish fjas / fuss