kempt

kempt · adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*ǵómbʰos“tooth; row of teeth”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kambijaną“to comb, kemb”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kambijan“to comb, kemb”
4. Old English · inherited fromcemban“to comb”
5. Middle English · inherited fromkemben“to comb (oneself or someone, or something); to card (wool, etc.); to make (something) elegant or smooth; (figurative) to make (something) gentle”
6. English todaykempt

Partly from both of the following: * An adjective use of kempt, the past participle of kemb (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) to comb”), from Middle English kemben (“to comb (oneself or someone, or something); to card (wool, etc.); to make (something) elegant or smooth; (figurative) to make (something) gentle”) (compare the past participle forms kempde, kempte), from Old English cemban (“to comb”) from Proto-West Germanic *kambijan (“to comb, kemb”), from Proto-Germanic *kambijaną (“to comb, kemb”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth; row of teeth”), from *ǵembʰ- (“to bite, chomp; to crunch”). * A back-formation from unkempt.

kempt · verb²

From kemb + -t (suffix forming the past tense and/or past participle forms of verbs).

Words from the same roots