woebegone

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*ǵʰeh₁-“to go; to reach; to abandon, leave”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*gāną“to go; to walk”
3. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*h₁épi“at; near; on”
4. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*bi-
5. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*bigān
6. Old English · inherited frombegān“to go over, traverse; to beset, surround; to occupy; to overrun; etc.”
7. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*wáy“ah!, oh!; alas!, woe!”
8. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wai“woe!”
9. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*wai“woe!”
10. Old English · inherited fromwā“woe”
11. Middle English · inherited fromwo-bigon
12. English todaywoebegone

From Middle English wo-bigon, wo-begon (“(adjective) deeply affected by woe, distressed, sorrowful, wretched; affected by physical impairment or pain; tired, weary; abominable, cursed; (noun) unfortunate person, wretch”), from wo (“distress, misery, woe; physical pain or suffering; etc.”) + bigon (the past participle form of bigon (“of a state: to come upon or overtake (someone), beset, overwhelm, bego; of a person: to be overwhelmed by grief, etc.”)): * wo is derived from Old English wā (“woe”), from Proto-West Germanic *wai (“woe!”, interjection), from Proto-Germanic *wai (“woe!”, interjection), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wáy (“ah!, oh!; alas!, woe!”, interjection). * bigon is derived from Old English begān (“to go over, traverse; to beset, surround; to occupy; to overrun; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *bigān, from *bi- (from Proto-Germanic *bi- (prefix meaning ‘at; by’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi (“at; near; on”)) + *gān (“to go”) (from Proto-Germanic *gāną (“to go; to walk”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to go; to reach; to abandon, leave”)). By surface analysis, woe + begone (the past participle form of bego (“(obsolete) to affect”)). Noun sense 1 (“person who is deeply affected or overwhelmed by suffering or trouble, and so filled with woe”) became obsolete after the 14th or 15th century, and was only revived in the 19th century.

Words from the same roots