English
sunny
Sunny comes from Middle English sunni ‘full of or illuminated by sunlight’, from Proto-West Germanic *sunnā ‘sun’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunnǭ‘the sun’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sunnā‘sun’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*sunnigreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*sunniġreconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sunni‘full of or illuminated by sunlight’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591sunny
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sunnǭ‘the sun’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sunnā‘sun’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*sunnigreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*sunniġreconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sunni‘full of or illuminated by sunlight’
- Englishearliest quotation 1591sunny
Earliest quotation: 1591, Edmund Spenser, Visions of the Worlds Vanitie: “sunny beams”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- ‘to measure’
meal, moral, measure, meter, dimensional, dimension, immense, metric, metre, meta, moody, mesa, asymmetry, commensurate, mensa, madder, metrology, mete, metis, metra, firman, moodiness, 64 more
through Proto-Indo-European *mḗh₁n̥s ‘moon, month’
month, moonlight, menstrual, menses, 6 more
through Proto-Germanic *mēnô ‘moon’
through Proto-West Germanic *sunnā ‘sun’
Today it means
adj Featuring a lot of sunshine.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *sunnǭ / sunny