English
epiphyte
Epiphyte comes from Ancient Greek ἐπιφύτον ‘one plant that grows upon another plant’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐπιφύτονepiphúton‘one plant that grows upon another plant’
- Englishearliest quotation 1848epiphyte
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἐπιφύτονepiphúton‘one plant that grows upon another plant’
- Englishearliest quotation 1848epiphyte
Earliest quotation: 1848, John Lindley: “It has been suggested to me that these fine…”
A compound of ἐπί ‘on top of’ + φυτόν ‘plant’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep- ‘to grab, snatch, get’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi ‘on’
Proto-Hellenic *epí
Ancient Greek ἐπί ‘on top of’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to appear, become, rise up’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuHyéti ‘to be becoming, to be growing, to be appearing’
Proto-Hellenic *pʰúyō ‘to grow, to appear’
Ancient Greek φύω ‘to generate’
Ancient Greek φῠτός ‘natural’
Ancient Greek φυτόν ‘plant’
Every English word from Ancient Greek ἐπιφύτον
Today it means
noun A plant that grows on another, using it for physical support but obtaining no nutrients from it and neither causing damage nor offering benefit.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἐπιφύτον / epiphyte