Etymograph

English

haptic

Haptic comes from Ancient Greek ἁπτικός ‘able to come in contact with’, from ἅπτω ‘to touch’, and ultimately from Proto-Hellenic *áptō.

  1. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*áptōreconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἅπτωháptō‘to touch’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἁπτικόςhaptikós‘able to come in contact with’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1860haptic

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*áptōreconstructedearlier origin unknown
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἅπτωháptō‘to touch’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἁπτικόςhaptikós‘able to come in contact with’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1860haptic

Earliest quotation: 1860, Isaac Barrow, [Lectiones Mathematicæ] Lect. II. [Of the Parts of Mathemati: “So there may be sciences of touch, taste, and…”

Linked words

through Ancient Greek ἅπτω ‘to touch’

synapse, synaptic, apse, 11 more

Today it means

adj Of or relating to the sense of touch.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Hellenic *áptō / haptic

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