Etymology

punyism

P3U1N1Y4I1S1M3

Today it means: The quality of being puny; puniness. Full definition →

First used 18th–19th c.English puny ← Middle French puisné ← Old French puisné
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pós
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pósti
  3. Proto-Italic*posti
  4. Old Latinposte
  5. Latinpost
  6. Proto-Indo-European*íh₂
  7. Latinea
  8. Latinposteā
  9. Vulgar Latin*postius
  10. Old Frenchpuis
  11. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*ǵn̥h₁tós
  13. Proto-Italic*gnātos
  14. Latingnātus
  15. Latinnātus
  16. Old Frenchné
  17. Old Frenchpuisné
  18. Middle Frenchpuisné
  19. Englishpuisne
  20. Englishpuny
  21. English todaypunyism

From puny + -ism.

First known use, by meaning

  • 18th–19th c. The quality of being puny; puniness.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.