Etymograph

English

hormesis

Hormesis comes from Ancient Greek ὅρμησις ‘rapid motion’, and goes back to Proto-Hellenic *hοrmā́.

  1. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hοrmā́reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὁρμήhormḗ
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὅρμησιςhórmēsis‘rapid motion’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2010hormesis

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hοrmā́reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὁρμήhormḗ
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὅρμησιςhórmēsis‘rapid motion’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2010hormesis

Earliest quotation: 2010, Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway: “So the concept of a permissible, safe, or “threshold”…”

Linked words

through Ancient Greek ὁρμή

hormone, 2 more

Today it means

noun A phenomenon in which an environmental agent or stressor produces a stimulatory or beneficial effect at low doses and an inhibitory or harmful effect at higher doses, corresponding to a biphasic dose-response relationship.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Hellenic *hοrmā́ / hormesis

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