Etymology

smart

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Today it means: To hurt or sting. Full definition →

Middle English smerten ← Old English *smeortan ← Proto-West Germanic *smertan
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smart · verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)merd-“to bite, sting”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*smertaną“to hurt, ache”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*smertan
  4. Old English · inherited from*smeortan“to smart”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromsmerten
  6. English todaysmart

From Middle English smerten, from Old English *smeortan (“to smart”), from Proto-West Germanic *smertan, from Proto-Germanic *smertaną (“to hurt, ache”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smarten, German schmerzen, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta.

smart · adjective2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)merd-“to bite, sting”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*smartaz“hurting, aching”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*smart
  4. Old English · inherited fromsmeart“smarting, smart, painful”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromsmert
  6. English todaysmart

From Middle English smert, smart, from Old English smeart (“smarting, smart, painful”), from Proto-West Germanic *smart, from Proto-Germanic *smartaz (“hurting, aching”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert (“painful, smart”), Old Frisian smert (“sharp, painful”).

smart · noun3

  1. Middle English · derived fromsmerte
  2. English todaysmart

From Middle English smerte, from smerten (“to smart”); see above. Cognate with Scots smert, Dutch smart, Low German smart, German Schmerz, Danish smerte, Swedish smärta. More above.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*(s)merd- all →

morceau

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.