English
cymatics
Cymatics comes from Latin cȳma ‘sprout, swelling, hollow sphere’, from Ancient Greek κύω ‘to be pregnant, I conceive’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-‘to swell’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱuh₁éyetireconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκύωkúō‘to be pregnant, I conceive’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκῦμα‘swell, wave, billow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcȳma‘sprout, swelling, hollow sphere’
- Englishearliest quotation 1966cymatics
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-‘to swell’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱuh₁éyetireconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκύωkúō‘to be pregnant, I conceive’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκῦμα‘swell, wave, billow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcȳma‘sprout, swelling, hollow sphere’
- Englishearliest quotation 1966cymatics
Earliest quotation: 1966, Photographic Applications in Science and, I-II: “A 25-minute color film and 50 black-and-white single frames…”
Formed from -ics
The story
Coined by Hans Jenny from Latin cȳmat(is) (‘sprout, swelling, hollow sphere’) + -ics, stem of cȳma, from Ancient Greek κῡ́μᾰτος (kū́mătos, “wave, billow, swell, sprout, fetus”), genitive of κῦμα (kûma).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’
church, jail, cave, cage, kirk, cavity, hound, excavation, gaol, cumulus, excavate, cajole, caul, cavil, 40 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱuh₁éyeti
Today it means
noun The study of visible effects of sound and vibration.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- / cymatics