English
entomology
Entomology comes from Ancient Greek ἔντομον ‘insect’, from λόγος ‘explanation’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect (words)’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to collect (words)’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγος‘explanation’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἔντομονéntomon‘insect’
- Frenchc. 1600–presententomologie
- Englishearliest quotation 2025entomology
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to collect (words)’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγος‘explanation’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἔντομονéntomon‘insect’
- Frenchc. 1600–presententomologie
- Englishearliest quotation 2025entomology
Earliest quotation: 2025, Jack Guy, Tiny QR codes help scientists track bee movements: “This suggests that most of the foraging that the…”
Formed from entomo- + -logy
Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’
…
Ancient Greek τέμνω ‘to cut’
Ancient Greek τόμος ‘slice, piece’
Ancient Greek ἔντομος ‘cut into pieces’
Ancient Greek ἔντομον ‘insect’
English entomo-
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect (words)’
election, collection, technology, lesson, select, elite, eligible, collect, elect, legion, elegant, coil, catalogue, negligence, negligible, leach, lexicon, negligent, lexical, cull, diligent, epilogue, astrology, dialectic, legation, alexia, lignite, lexis, lignin, gynecologist, cosmology, ineligibility, dialogic, 151 more
through Proto-Hellenic *lógos
archaeological, pathological, astrological, pathophysiology, etymology, homologous, psychopathology, neurophysiology, bacteriological, histopathology, 102 more
through Ancient Greek λόγος ‘explanation’
logic, apology, trilogy, analogy, sociology, terminology, logos, physiology, pathology, logistic, prologue, archaeologist, pathologist, monologue, eulogy, epistemology, etiology, apologia, bacteriology, syllogism, bacteriologist, 111 more
Today it means
noun The scientific study of insects, and (informal) of other arthropods (and occasionally other invertebrates).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- / entomology