Ancient Greek words first recorded in the 5th century BC

It is formed from Ancient Greek συνίστημι (sunístēmi, “to place together, unite”) + -μα (-ma), a noun of result: “something put together”.

The origin is unknown. The Cean compound σφηνόπους (sphēnópous) and the form σφάνιον (sphánion) show that the word had an original long /aː/, Common Greek *σφάν (*sphā́n). The traditional link with…

It is formed from Ancient Greek σχεδόν (skhedón, “near”) + -ιος (-ios), the adjectival suffix. The adverb is formed from the aorist stem of ἔχω (ékhō, “to hold, have”) (σχεῖν (skheîn)) with the…

It is formed with the secondary suffix -ία (-ía), like κειρία (keiría, “band, tapeworm”) and ἀντλία (antlía), and is probably from Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”), from Proto-Indo-European…

It is formed from Ancient Greek τάσσω (tássō, “to arrange, draw up”) + -τικός (-tikós). Babiniotis and the Cambridge lexicon connect it with the verbal adjective τακτός (taktós, “ordered, fixed”).

It is a borrowing from an unknown Eastern language, made in parallel with Latin pāvō (“peacock”) and pāvus. The bird came to Greece from India by way of Persia. Frisk asks whether Tamil தோகை (tōkai…

It is a hypocoristic short form from Ancient Greek τιθήνη (tithḗnē, “wet nurse”), with expressive doubling of the /t/ and without the nasal suffix. Chantraine notes that the more expressive τίτθη…

It is a noun from Ancient Greek τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”) with the suffix -ος (-os), showing the o-grade of the root, as do τομή (tomḗ, “cut”), τομεύς (tomeús) and τομίας (tomías, “eunuch”)…

It is a denominative verb from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “lathe, pair of compasses”) + -εύω (-eúō). The noun is an instrument noun with the suffix *-no- from the root of τείρω (teírō) “to rub…

The origin is obscure. It has the same suffix as κορύνη (korúnē, “club”), σιβύνη (sibúnē, “spear”) and χελύνη (khelúnē, “lip, jaw”). Fick, Froehde and Frisk compared a Germanic verb for stirring…

It is formed from Ancient Greek τραγῳδός (tragōidós, “tragic singer or actor”) + -ία. τραγῳδός (tragōidós) is from Ancient Greek τράγος (trágos, “he-goat”) + ἀοιδή (aoidḗ, “song”), “goat-singer”; a…

It is a compound from Ancient Greek τράγος (trágos, “he-goat”) + ἀοιδός (aoidós, “singer”), probably formed after the pattern of ῥαψῳδός (rhapsōidós). Why the singer was named after the goat is…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because the variation between τύρβη (túrbē) and σύρβη (súrbē) points to a palatalised /tʲ/ of the substrate. Chantraine calls it one of a family of expressive and…

It is formed from Ancient Greek τύφω (tū́phō, “to smoke”) + -ος. Its senses run from smoke and vapour to delusion and vanity, and Plutarch likens conceit to the smoke of philosophy.

Beekes takes it as inherited from Proto-Indo-European *udero- (“belly”), cognate with Sanskrit उदर (udára-, “belly”), Latin uterus (“belly, womb”), Old Prussian weders (“belly, stomach”) and…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) + -ία (-íā), from the r-stem of ὕδωρ (hū́dōr, “water”) that is also seen in ὕδρα (húdrā, “water snake”) and ἄνυδρος (ánudros, “waterless”); the…

1. The membrane is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sjuH-mn̥ (“thread, sinew”), an old technical word isolated in Greek. Apart from the length of its υ, it matches Sanskrit स्यूमन् (syū́man-…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, “to answer; to play a part”) + -τής (-tḗs), the agent suffix. Spicq notes that the verb, formed from ὑπό (hupó, “under”) and κρίνω (krínō…

It is a noun of action from Ancient Greek ὑφίστημι (huphístēmi) + -σις (-sis), the verb being ὑπό (hupó, “under”) with ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to make stand”), so that the literal sense is “a standing…

It is from Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó, “under”) + χόνδρος (khóndros, “cartilage”) + -ιος (-ios), “lying under the cartilage”, that is, under the cartilage of the breastbone.

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, a technical word that ancient grammarians such as Pollux called Aeolic. It has close parallels in Latin orca (“large-bellied jar, tun”), from which urceus (“pitcher”)…

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ustérā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *udtéreh₂, originally the feminine of the comparative ὕστερος (hústeros) in its old sense "outer", perhaps used with a…

It is formed from Ancient Greek ὑστέρα (hustérā, “womb”) + -ικός (-ikós). The noun is the feminine of the comparative ὕστερος (hústeros) in its old sense “outer”, and Beekes explains the meaning by…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the variant φάκελλος (phákellos) in Aristotle: such alternation of /l/ and /ll/ is a Pre-Greek feature, and the suffix is like that of πύελος (púelos) and…

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek, because of the variation between φ and β (βαλλίον (ballíon)) and between ⟨λ⟩ and ⟨λλ⟩, and because of the suffix -ητ- of the by-form φάλης (phálēs). He thinks the…

It is formed from Ancient Greek φαντάζω (phantázō, “to make visible, (middle) to imagine”) + -τικός (-tikós).

It is formed from Ancient Greek φαρμακεύω (pharmakeúō) + -ία (-ía), the action noun of the verb “to give drugs, to poison, to bewitch”, which comes from φάρμακον (phármakon, “drug, remedy, poison…

1. The noun meaning “appearance, denunciation” is from Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō, “to bring to light; to appear”), from the zero-grade stem φα- with the suffix -σις (-sis), like φάσμα (phásma…

It is a rare by-form from Ancient Greek θλίβω (thlī́bō), the much more common word, like φλάω (phláō) beside θλάω (thláō). It is generally compared with words in Celtic, Latin and Balto-Slavic, such…

It is an enlargement from Ancient Greek φλύω (phlúō, “to bubble over, babble”), but the details of the formation are unclear. Beekes also considers a dissimilation from a form with λ. The accent…

It is a derivative from Ancient Greek φράζω (phrázō, “to point out, tell”), whose stem ends in ⟨δ⟩; Wiktionary takes it to stand for *φράστις (*phrástis), with the Indo-European suffix…

It is formed from Ancient Greek φρενῖτις (phrenîtis, “inflammation of the brain”) + -ικός (-ikós). The disease name is built on φρήν (phrḗn, “midriff; mind”) with the suffix -ῖτις (-îtis), which…

It is from Ancient Greek φυλάσσω (phulássō, “to guard”) + -τήριον (-tḗrion), a noun of place and means. BDAG relates it also to φύλαξ (phúlax, “guard”).

It is the Attic contraction from Ancient Greek φάος (pháos, “light”), which is from Proto-Hellenic *pʰáwos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”). Beekes and Frisk trace the whole group to a…

A compound from Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs) + -φόρος (-phóros), “light” and “bearing”, the second part from φέρω (phérō, “to carry”). Poetry also has the forms φαοσφόρος (phaosphóros) and φαεσφόρος…

The origin is unknown. Beekes finds the likeness to Latin silex (“flint”) and Middle Irish scellec (“rock”) too vague for an Indo-European etymology; the formation is like κύλιξ (kúlix, “cup”). It…

The origin is unknown. Like the papyrus plant itself it probably came from Egypt, though this is unconfirmed. A derivation from χαράσσω (kharássō, “to scratch, engrave”), given in Strong's…

NIL reconstructs it as inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeim-er-ino- (“of winter”), a formation that Latin hībernus (“wintry”) continues too. Wiktionary also allows a Greek formation from…

It is formed from Ancient Greek χειρουργέω (kheirourgéō, “to work with the hands”) + -ία (-íā, “abstract noun suffix”), from χειρουργός (kheirourgós, “working with the hands”), a compound of χείρ…

It is the later spelling of χεῖ (kheî), the name of the letter Χ. Unlike most letter names it has no Semitic model, since Χ was one of the letters the Greeks added to the alphabet: the name was made…

It is a medical term, formed like ὑστέρα (hustéra) and the disease names ἴκτερος (íkteros, “jaundice”) and ὕδερος (húderos, “dropsy”), perhaps a noun made from an unattested adjective *χολερός…

It is from Ancient Greek χρώς (khrṓs, “surface of the body, skin, complexion”) with the suffix -μα (-ma), built on the stem χρω- (khrō-) of that noun. Beekes treats it under χρόα (khróa) and that…

It is traditionally from Ancient Greek χέω (khéō, “to pour”), like χυμός (khūmós, “juice, flavour”). Frisk thought this by far the likeliest connection. The long ῡ, against the short vowel of χυτός…

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *plús-ih₂ (“flea”), with metathesis to *psuli-, perhaps by association with ψῆν (psên, “to rub”). Cognate with Sanskrit प्लुषि (plúṣi), Old Armenian լու…

It is formed from Ancient Greek διπλόος (diplóos) + -όω (-óō), a factitive verb from the adjective meaning “double”.

Beekes considers it Pre-Greek: it is an enlarged form of κόλος (kólos, “docked, hornless”), and its suffix ⟨-οβ-⟩ cannot be explained in Indo-European terms. He compares κλαμβός (klambós) and lists…