English
anthropoid
Anthropoid comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθρωποειδής ‘looking like a human, in human form, humanoid’, and goes back to ἄνθρωπος.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄνθρωπος‘human being’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἀνθρωποειδήςanthrōpoeidḗs‘looking like a human, in human form, humanoid’
- Englishearliest quotation 1912anthropoid
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄνθρωπος‘human being’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἀνθρωποειδήςanthrōpoeidḗs‘looking like a human, in human form, humanoid’
- Englishearliest quotation 1912anthropoid
Earliest quotation: 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes: “The tribe of anthropoids over which Kerchak ruled with…”
Equivalent to anthrop- + -oid
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’
eye, optics, oculus, ocular, ogle, inoculation, monocle, awk, synoptic, inoculate, doily, 39 more
Today it means
adj Having characteristics of a human, usually in terms of shape or appearance.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος / anthropoid