English
eclipse
Eclipse comes from Latin eclīpsis ‘a solar eclipse’, and goes back to Ancient Greek ἐκλείπω ‘to abandon, go missing, vanish’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐκλείπωekleípō‘to abandon, go missing, vanish’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἔκλειψιςékleipsis
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeclīpsis‘a solar eclipse’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400eclipse
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐκλείπωekleípō‘to abandon, go missing, vanish’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἔκλειψιςékleipsis
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeclīpsis‘a solar eclipse’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400eclipse
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1592same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]: “For, till I see them here, by doubtful fear…”
A compound of ἐκ ‘out’ + λείπω ‘to leave behind’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs ‘out of’
Proto-Hellenic *eks
Ancient Greek ἐκ ‘out’
Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- ‘to leave behind’
Ancient Greek λείπω ‘to leave behind’
Every English word from Ancient Greek ἐκλείπω
Today it means
noun An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and another object, thus obscuring the latter.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἐκλείπω / eclipse