English
smartling
From smart + -ling.
Formed from smart + -ling
Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- ‘to bite, sting’
Proto-Germanic *smartaz ‘hurting, aching’
Proto-West Germanic *smart
Old English smeart ‘smarting, painful’
Middle English smert
English smart
Today it means
noun One who is smart, shrewd, or clever; a smart-aleck.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “smartling”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / smartling