Etymograph

English

diaeresis

Diaeresis comes from Late Latin diaeresis ‘distribution’, from Ancient Greek δῐαιρέω ‘to divide’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to flow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to flow’root as named
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐαιρέωdĭairéō‘to divide’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEδῐαίρεσῐςdĭaíresĭs‘distribution, division’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdiaeresis‘distribution’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to flow’root as named
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐαιρέωdĭairéō‘to divide’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEδῐαίρεσῐςdĭaíresĭs‘distribution, division’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdiaeresis‘distribution’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611same form

Earliest quotation: 1611, Randle Cotgrave, London: […] Adam Islip: “Diæreſis is vvhen tvvo points ouer a vovvell diuide…”

The story

Unadapted borrowing from Late Latin diaeresis (‘distribution; division of a diphthong into two syllables’), from Ancient Greek δῐαίρεσῐς (dĭaíresĭs, “distribution, division; division of a poetic line when the end of a word and a metrical foot coincide; division of a diphthong into two syllables”), from δῐαιρέω (dĭairéō, “to divide; to distinguish; to resolve a diphthong or contracted form”) + -σῐς (-sĭs, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result). Δῐαιρέω (Dĭairéō) is derived from δῐᾰ- (dĭă-, prefix meaning ‘across; through; in different directions’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwís (‘doubly, twice; in two’)) + αἱρέω (hairéō, “to grasp, seize, take”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (‘to grasp, seize, take’)).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to flow’

service, sort, series, serve, conservative, hero, stream, desert, insert, assertion, reservoir, sermon, conservatism, exert, assertive, concierge, sorcery, observant, servitude, sorcerer, heresy, sark, heretic, conservator, strudel, servile, serf, sere, 33 more

Today it means

noun A separation of one syllable (especially a vowel which is a diphthong, that is, beginning with one sound and ending with another) into two distinct syllables; distraction.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ser- / diaeresis

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