ydmygelse (Danish)
Where does "ydmygelse" come from?
The Danish noun 'ydmygelse' originates from a compound of the Proto-Germanic roots for 'easy' and 'soft,' capturing the literal sense of making someone malleable or pliable. This evolved through Old Norse into the Danish verb 'ydmyge,' shifting in meaning from 'softening' to 'humbling' or 'demeaning.' Eventually, the addition of the suffix '-else' transformed this concept into the modern noun for humiliation.
Full etymology tree
- ydmygelse (Danish), 'humiliation'
- derived ydmyge (Danish), 'to humiliate, demean'
- inherited øthmykæ (Old Danish)
- inherited auðmýkja (Old Norse)
- compound auð- (Old Norse), 'easily'
- inherited *auþuz (Proto-Germanic), 'easy, light'
- inherited *h₂éw-tu-s (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *h₂ew- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to enjoy'
- inherited *h₂éw-tu-s (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *auþuz (Proto-Germanic), 'easy, light'
- compound mjúkr (Old Norse), 'soft'
- inherited *meukaz (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *mewg- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *meukaz (Proto-Germanic)
- compound auð- (Old Norse), 'easily'
- inherited auðmýkja (Old Norse)
- inherited øthmykæ (Old Danish)
- suffix -else (Danish), 'Added to a verb to form a noun for an action or process.'
- derived ydmyge (Danish), 'to humiliate, demean'
Ancestors
- ydmyge (Danish)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris