Etymograph

English

oryctics

Oryctics comes from Ancient Greek ὀρυκτικός ‘fit for digging or mining’, from ὀρυκτός ‘dug up’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewk- ‘to dig up, grub’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃rewk-‘to dig up, grub’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀρῠ́σσω‘to dig’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὀρυκτόςoruktós‘dug up’root of ὀρῠ́σσω
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὀρυκτικόςoruktikós‘fit for digging or mining’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1888oryctics

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃rewk-‘to dig up, grub’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀρῠ́σσω‘to dig’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὀρυκτόςoruktós‘dug up’root of ὀρῠ́σσω
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEὀρυκτικόςoruktikós‘fit for digging or mining’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1888oryctics

Earliest quotation: 1888, Robert Yelverton Tyrrell: “He added that his friend is about to sell…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewk- ‘to dig up, grub’

rock, arroyo, rog, 5 more

Today it means

noun The branch of geology relating to fossils.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃rewk- / oryctics

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