English
ataxia
Ataxia comes from Ancient Greek ἀταξία ‘disorder’, from τάσσω ‘draw up in order of battle, form, array, marshal’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-‘to order, to establish, to rule’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tat͏̌t͏̌ōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτάσσω‘draw up in order of battle, form, array, marshal’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἄτακτοςátaktos‘disorderly’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἀταξίαataxía‘disorder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1640ataxia
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-‘to order, to establish, to rule’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tat͏̌t͏̌ōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτάσσω‘draw up in order of battle, form, array, marshal’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἄτακτοςátaktos‘disorderly’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἀταξίαataxía‘disorder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1640ataxia
Earliest quotation: 1640, Joseph Hall, Episcopacie by Divine Right: “Neither is there any Ataxie to bee feared in…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- ‘to order, to establish, to rule’
contact, taste, integrity, contingent, integrate, tangible, tame, contiguous, attain, tangent, tactile, contagion, tact, talon, taxonomy, contaminate, talus, thwack, 29 more
through Proto-Hellenic *tat͏̌t͏̌ō
through Ancient Greek τάσσω ‘draw up in order of battle, form, array, marshal’
Today it means
noun Lack of coordination while performing voluntary movements, which may appear to be clumsiness, inaccuracy, or instability.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- / ataxia