English
diagonal
Diagonal comes from Ancient Greek διαγώνιος ‘from angle to angle’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιαγώνιοςdiagṓnios‘from angle to angle’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiagōnālis
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600diagonal
- Englishearliest quotation 1965diagonal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιαγώνιοςdiagṓnios‘from angle to angle’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiagōnālis
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600diagonal
- Englishearliest quotation 1965diagonal
Earliest quotation: 1965, Dmitri A. Borgmann, Language on Vacation: “Initial inquiries among professional typists uncover names like slant,…”
A compound of διά ‘across’ + γωνία ‘angle’
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ‘two’
Proto-Indo-European *dwís ‘twice, in two’
Ancient Greek διά ‘across’
Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu ‘knee’
Proto-Hellenic *gónu ‘knee’
Proto-Hellenic *gonwía
Ancient Greek γωνία ‘angle’
Every English word from Ancient Greek διαγώνιος
Today it means
adj Joining two nonadjacent vertices (of a polygon or polyhedron).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek διαγώνιος / diagonal