English
cylinder
Cylinder comes from Middle French chilindre ‘cylinder (shape)’, from Ancient Greek κυλίνδω ‘to roll’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- ‘to crook, bend’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kel-‘to crook, bend’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκυλίνδω‘to roll’next step skipped: Ancient Greek κῠλῐ́νδω
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκύλινδροςkúlindros‘roller, cylinder’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcylindrus
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600chilindre‘cylinder (shape)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1898cylinder
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kel-‘to crook, bend’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκυλίνδω‘to roll’next step skipped: Ancient Greek κῠλῐ́νδω
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκύλινδροςkúlindros‘roller, cylinder’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcylindrus
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600chilindre‘cylinder (shape)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1898cylinder
Earliest quotation: 1898, H. G. Wells: “A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- ‘to crook, bend’
colon, chalice, scoliosis, colic, skelly, 17 more
through Latin cylindrus
Today it means
noun A surface created by projecting a closed two-dimensional curve along an axis intersecting the plane of the curve.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- / cylinder