English
atomy
Atomy comes from English atomus ‘hypothetical particle posited as an ultimate…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-‘to cut’root as named
- English1500–presentatomus‘hypothetical particle posited as an ultimate and indivisible component of matter’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595atomy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-‘to cut’root as named
- English1500–presentatomus‘hypothetical particle posited as an ultimate and indivisible component of matter’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595atomy
Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, London: […] Thomas Creede: “O then I ſee Queene Mab hath bin vvith…”
The story
A variant of atomi, the plural of atomus (‘hypothetical particle posited as an ultimate and indivisible component of matter; mote of dust in a sunbeam’) treated as a singular form. Atomus is derived from Latin atomus, from Ancient Greek ἄτομος (átomos, “indivisible”, adjective), from ᾰ̓- (ă-, prefix forming terms having an opposite sense) + τομ- (tom-) (stem of τέμνω (témnō, “to cut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- (‘to cut’)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns of action or result).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’
contempt, templar, epitome, tome, tempestuous, dichotomous, toma, 35 more
Today it means
noun A tiny particle; an atom, a mote, a speck.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- / atomy