English
hippogonal
Hippogonal comes from Ancient Greek ἵππος ‘horse, cavalry’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁éḱwos.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éḱwos‘horse’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*íkkʷos‘horse’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἵπποςhíppos‘horse, cavalry’
- Englishtodayhippogonal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éḱwos‘horse’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*íkkʷos‘horse’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἵπποςhíppos‘horse, cavalry’
- Englishtodayhippogonal
The story
The word was coined by David Parlett. It derives from Ancient Greek ἵππος (híppos, “horse, cavalry”) [a synonym in chess for knight] and γωνία (gōnía, “angle”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁éḱwos ‘horse’
Today it means
adj Being a move in a board game that is neither orthogonal nor diagonal, as a knight's move in chess. In chess, an (m,n) move spans m squares in one of the orthogonal directions and n squares in a perpendicular direction; the move is hippogonal if m and n are not equal and both greater than zero: 0 < n < m.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁éḱwos / hippogonal