Etymology

semiserious

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Today it means: somewhat or partially serious Full definition →

English serious ← Middle English seryows ← Old French serieux
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sēmi
  3. Latinsēmi-
  4. Englishsemi-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*seh₁-
  6. Proto-Italic*sēros
  7. Latinsērus
  8. Proto-Indo-European*swer-
  9. Proto-Italic*swerjos?
  10. Latinsērius
  11. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₃édosder.?
  13. Medieval Latinsēriōsus
  14. Old Frenchserieux
  15. Middle Englishseryows
  16. Englishserious
  17. English todaysemiserious

From semi- + serious.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.