Etymograph

English

idea

Idea comes from Latin idea ‘a (Platonic) idea; archetype’, from Ancient Greek ἰδέα ‘notion, pattern’, from εἴδω ‘to see’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to know; see’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-‘to know; see’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεἴδω‘to see’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἰδέαĭdéā‘notion, pattern’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEidea‘a (Platonic) idea; archetype’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1603same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-‘to know; see’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεἴδω‘to see’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἰδέαĭdéā‘notion, pattern’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEidea‘a (Platonic) idea; archetype’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1603same form

Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “The remembrance whereof (which yet I beare deepely imprinted…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to know’

story, guy, review, visit, advice, interview, video, evidence, vision, provide, witness, wise, historic, wisdom, visa, advise, invisible, guide, wit, wizard, historian, visibility, vista, witty, idol, revise, guise, evident, envious, prudent, revue, steroid, improvise, tabloid, jurisprudence, avis, purview, prudence, twit, voyeur, 120 more

Today it means

noun An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyd- / idea

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