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graph

Etymology and origin of the English word graph

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1878
Ultimate origin
English (graphic)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡɹæf/, /ɡɹɑːf/ (UK); /ɡɹæf/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is a shortening of graphic formula (1866) (see graphic),[2][3][4][5] a chemical diagram in which lines show the connections of elements.[4] Graphic is from Latin graphicus, from Greek γραφικός (graphikós), from γραφή (graphḗ), writing.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A symbolic diagram, in chemistry or mathematics, showing relationships: 1878, first in the English mathematician James Sylvester.[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The graph was first used to show relationships of any kind, then in geometry, and later generally in mathematics.[2] The graphical representation of a function, a traced curve, is from 1886.[6][5] The verb, to plot on a graph, is from 1889 in Etymonline and 1898 in Barnhart and the OED.[3][2][6] Graph theory, the mathematics of networks of points and lines, is from 1959.[6]

Timeline

  • 1866 – graphic formula.[2]
  • 1878 – a graph.[2]
  • 1886 – the curve of a function.[6]
  • 1898 – to graph (verb).[6]
  • 1959 – graph theory.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A diagram showing the relation between sets of numbers or quantities, plotted against axes; a chart.
  2. (mathematics) A drawing representing a function, or a structure of points joined by lines.

Verb

  1. To represent or plot on a graph.

Usage notes

In linguistics, graph, a written symbol representing a speech sound, is a separate coinage of 1933 by Leonard Bloomfield from Greek graphḗ, writing.[2][6] Grapheme followed in 1937.[2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Graph.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/graph. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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