English
demography
Demography comes from Ancient Greek δῆμος ‘people’, from γραφή ‘writing, drawing, description’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-‘to carve’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*grə́pʰō‘to scratch, cut or carve into’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγρᾰ́φω‘to scratch, cut into’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEγραφήgraphḗ‘writing, drawing, description’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEδῆμοςdêmos‘people’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019demography
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-‘to carve’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*grə́pʰō‘to scratch, cut or carve into’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγρᾰ́φω‘to scratch, cut into’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEγραφήgraphḗ‘writing, drawing, description’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEδῆμοςdêmos‘people’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019demography
Earliest quotation: 2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl: “the schoolʼs demography began to change with the immigrants…”
Formed from demo ‘people’ + graphy ‘written representation of’
French graphie ‘written form’
English graphy
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’
grammar, crawl, crab, carve, crawfish, astrophotography, 80 more
through Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō ‘to scratch, cut or carve into’
photo, cinema, graphite, graphene, epigram, 74 more
through Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω ‘to scratch, cut into’
photography, graffiti, graft, grimoire, epigraph, 41 more
through Ancient Greek γραφή ‘writing, drawing, description’
graphic, ultrasonography, sonography, 12 more
through Ancient Greek δῆμος ‘people’
academic, democratic, democracy, democrat, pandemic, endemic, demos, demiurge, demotic, 27 more
Today it means
noun The study of the characteristics of human populations, especially with regards to their makeup and fluctuations and the social causes behind these.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- / demography