threadbare

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*bʰosós“bare; barefoot”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*bazaz“naked, bare”
3. Old English · inherited frombær“naked, bare; unconcealed”
4. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*terh₁-“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn, twist”
5. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þrēduz“thread; twisted fibre”
6. Old English · inherited fromþrǣd“thread”
7. Middle English · inherited fromthred-bar
8. English todaythreadbare

PIE word *bʰosós From Middle English thred-bar, thred-bare (“of cloth, clothing, etc.: worn to such an extent that the warp and weft threads show, shabby, worn-out; (figurative) inadequate, poor”) [and other forms], from thred (“piece of textile twine”) (from Old English þrǣd (“thread”), from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz (“thread; twisted fibre”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn, twist”)) + bar, bare (“naked, unclothed, bare; not covered”) (from Old English bær (“naked, bare; unconcealed”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“naked, bare”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós (“bare; barefoot”)). The English word is analysable as thread + bare.

Words from the same roots