förtvivlan (Swedish)

Where does "förtvivlan" come from?

The Swedish noun 'förtvivlan' meaning 'despair' is formed by combining the verb 'förtvivla' with the nominal suffix '-an'[1]. The underlying verb 'förtvivla' comes from Old Swedish 'fortvifla', which was borrowed from Middle Low German 'vortwivelen'[3].

Full etymology tree

• förtvivlan (Swedish), 'despair'
  • affix förtvivla (Swedish), 'to despair, to lose hope'
    • derived fortvifla (Old Swedish)
      • borrowed vortwivelen (Middle Low German)
  • suffix -an (Swedish), 'making a noun from a verb, similar to -ing and -ning, having -ningar as the plural.'

Ancestors

• förtvivla (Swedish)
• an (Swedish)

Sources

1. förtvivlan (Swedish) - Wiktionary
2. an (Swedish) - Wiktionary
3. förtvivla (Swedish) - Wiktionary
4. on (English) - Wiktionary
5. an (German) - Wiktionary
6. an (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
7. on (Middle English) - Wiktionary
8. on (Old English) - Wiktionary
9. ane (Middle High German) - Wiktionary
10. ana (Old High German) - Wiktionary
11. ano (Old High German) - Wiktionary
12. ēnu (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris