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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

pretty

/ˈpɹɪt.i/
Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.

    Etymology graph

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    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
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    Origin

    From Middle English prety, preti, praty, prati, from Old English prættiġ (“tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”), from Proto-West Germanic *prattug, from Proto-Germanic *prattugaz (“boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”), corresponding to prat (“trick”) + -y. Doublet of pratty.

    Cognate with Dutch prettig (“nice, pleasant”), Low German prettig (“funny”), Icelandic prettugur (“deceitful, tricky”). For the semantic development, compare canny, clever, cute.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishprety
      • inheritedOld Englishprættiġ “tricky, crafty, sly, cunning, wily, astute”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*prattug
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*prattugaz “boastful, sly, slick, deceitful, tricky, cunning”
      • partMiddle Englishprat “trick”
        • inheritedOld Englishpræt
          • inheritedProto-West Germanic*prattu
      • suffixMiddle English-y
        • derivedMiddle English-ie
          • derivedOld French-ie
        • inheritedOld English-iġ
          • inheritedProto-West Germanic*-g
          • inheritedProto-West Germanic*-i
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*-ōn
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*-ōną

    Related: English pratty (doublet), Dutch prettig, Low German prettig, Icelandic prettugur

    Meanings

    adj
    1. Pleasant to the sight or other senses; attractive, especially of women or children.
    2. Of objects or things: nice-looking, appealing.
    3. Fine-looking; only superficially attractive; initially appealing but having little substance; see petty.
    4. Effeminate.
    5. Cunning; clever, skilful.
    6. Moderately large; considerable.
    adv
    1. Somewhat, fairly, quite; sometimes also (by meiosis) very.
    2. Prettily, in a pretty manner.
    noun
    1. A pretty person; a term of address to a pretty person.
    2. Something that is pretty.
    verb
    1. To make pretty; to beautify

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: pretty