Etymology

worldling

W4O1R1L1D2L1I1N1G2

Today it means: A mundane person, preoccupied with worldly affairs rather than spiritual matters. Full definition →

English world ← Middle English world ← Old English weorold
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyh₁-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wiHrós
  3. Proto-Germanic*weraz
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂életi
  6. Proto-Germanic*alaną
  7. Proto-Germanic*aldiz
  8. Proto-Germanic*weraldiz
  9. Proto-West Germanic*weraldi
  10. Old Englishweorold
  11. Middle Englishworld
  12. Englishworld
  13. English todayworldling

From world + -ling.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.