Etymograph

English

ouroboros

Ouroboros comes from Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος ‘tail-devouring’, from βιβρώσκω ‘to eat, eat up’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷerh₃-‘to swallow, devour, eat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷi-gʷr̥h₃-sḱé-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷigʷrṓskōreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβιβρώσκωbibrṓskō‘to eat, eat up’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEοὐροβόροςourobóros‘tail-devouring’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1968ouroboros

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷerh₃-‘to swallow, devour, eat’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷi-gʷr̥h₃-sḱé-tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷigʷrṓskōreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβιβρώσκωbibrṓskō‘to eat, eat up’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEοὐροβόροςourobóros‘tail-devouring’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1968ouroboros

Earliest quotation: 1968, 1951, R. F. C. Hull: “The alchemists were fond of picturing their opus as…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- ‘to swallow, devour, eat’

gorge, quirk, devour, voracious, gurgle, herbivorous, 25 more

Today it means

noun A serpent, dragon or worm that eats its own tail, a representation of the continuous cycle of life and death.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- / ouroboros

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