English
amorphous
Amorphous comes from Ancient Greek ἄμορφος ‘without form, shapeless, deformed’, and goes back to μορφή.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμορφήmorphḗ‘form’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἄμορφοςámorphos‘without form, shapeless, deformed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1920amorphous
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμορφήmorphḗ‘form’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἄμορφοςámorphos‘without form, shapeless, deformed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1920amorphous
Earliest quotation: 1920, David Herbert Lawrence, New York: “Gudrun, new from her life in Chelsea and Sussex,…”
Formed from -ous
Linked words
through Ancient Greek μορφή ‘form’
Today it means
adj Lacking a definite form or clear shape.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek μορφή / amorphous