English
endorheic
Endorheic comes from Ancient Greek ῥέω ‘to flow, gush, stream’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *srew-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-‘to flow, stream’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sréwetireconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hréwōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥέωrhéō‘to flow, gush, stream’
- Englishearliest quotation 1937endorheic
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-‘to flow, stream’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sréwetireconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hréwōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥέωrhéō‘to flow, gush, stream’
- Englishearliest quotation 1937endorheic
Earliest quotation: 1937, Collected Papers: Osborn Zoological Soci, Yale University: “[I]n some cases channels leading towards the sea may…”
The story
From English endo- (prefix meaning ‘internal, inside, within’) + Ancient Greek ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow, gush, stream”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (‘to flow, stream’)) + English -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining’ to forming adjectives).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *srew- ‘to flow, stream’
stream, rhythm, maelstrom, rheumatism, rheumatology, 42 more
through Ancient Greek ῥέω ‘to flow, gush, stream’
Today it means
adj Of a basin or lake: having no outflow to an external body of water such as a river or ocean, and only losing water through evaporation or seepage into the ground.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *srew- / endorheic