Etymograph

English

worthy

Worthy comes from Middle English worthy, and goes back to Old English *weorþiġ.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*weorþiġreconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500worthy
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*weorþiġreconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500worthy
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “These banished men that I have kept withal /…”

Formed from worth + -y

Proto-Germanic *werþaz ‘worthy’

Proto-West Germanic *werþ

Old English weorþ ‘worth’

Middle English worth

English worth

Every English word from Old English *weorþiġ

Another origin of worthy

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-‘to turn, wind’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*werþōną‘to be worthy, estimate, appreciate, appraise’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150weorþian‘to esteem, honor, worship, distinguish, celebrate, exalt, praise, adorn, deck, enrich’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500worthien
  5. Englishtodayworthy

Today it means

adj Having worth, merit, or value.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old English *weorþiġ / worthy

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