English
pretty
Pretty comes from Old English prættiġ ‘tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *prattugaz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*prattugaz‘boastful’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*prattugreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150prættiġ‘tricky’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prety
- Englishearliest quotation 1624pretty
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*prattugaz‘boastful’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*prattugreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150prættiġ‘tricky’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500prety
- Englishearliest quotation 1624pretty
Earliest quotation: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “they flung all the goods in the house out…”
The story
For the semantic development, compare canny, clever, cute.
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz
Today it means
adj Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *prattugaz / pretty