Etymograph

English

cataract

Cataract comes from Latin cataracta ‘floodgate’, from Ancient Greek καταρ(ρ)άκτης ‘(noun) waterfall’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wreh₂ǵʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wreh₂ǵʰ-root as named
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥᾱ́σσω‘to strike, dash’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκαταρρᾱ́σσω
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκαταρ(ρ)άκτηςρ‘(noun) waterfall’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcataracta‘floodgate’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cataracte
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cataract
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1555cataract

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wreh₂ǵʰ-root as named
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥᾱ́σσω‘to strike, dash’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκαταρρᾱ́σσω
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκαταρ(ρ)άκτηςρ‘(noun) waterfall’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcataracta‘floodgate’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cataracte
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cataract
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1555cataract

Earliest quotation: 1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., The Seconde Vyage to Guinea: “They ſay furthermore that in certeyne places of the…”.

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *wreh₂ǵʰ-

Another origin of cataract

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-‘a hook, crook, peg’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cataracte‘clouding of the lens in the eye’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cataract
  4. Englishtodaycataract

Today it means

noun A (large) waterfall, specifically one flowing over the edge of a cliff.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wreh₂ǵʰ- / cataract

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