Etymology

ernest

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Today it means: A male given name from the Germanic languages; popular in the 19th century. Full definition →

Old High German ernust
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The story

  1. Old High German · derived fromernust“vigor, strife”
  2. English todayErnest

Borrowed in the 18th century from Ernst, a medieval royal name in Germany, from Old High German ernust (“vigor, strife”), only remotely related to modern German ernst or English earnest.

Words from the same roots

Old High Germanernust all →

Ernst

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.