English
physiology
Physiology comes from Latin physiologia ‘natural philosophy, natural science’, from Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóǵosreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςlógos‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφῠσῐολογίᾱphŭsĭologíā‘inquiry into natural causes and phenomena’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphysiologia‘natural philosophy, natural science’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentphysiologie
- Englishearliest quotation 2023physiology
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóǵosreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςlógos‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφῠσῐολογίᾱphŭsĭologíā‘inquiry into natural causes and phenomena’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphysiologia‘natural philosophy, natural science’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentphysiologie
- Englishearliest quotation 2023physiology
Earliest quotation: 2023, Isabel Waidner, Corey Fah Does Social Mobility: “So he clung to the sides of the vertical…”
Formed from physio- + -logy
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuHyéti ‘to be becoming, to be growing, to be appearing’
Proto-Hellenic *pʰúyō
Ancient Greek φῠ́ω ‘to bring forth, produce, generate, cause to grow’
Ancient Greek φῠ́σῐς ‘nature’
English physio-
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’
election, collection, technology, lesson, select, elite, eligible, collect, elect, elegant, coil, legion, negligence, catalogue, negligible, negligent, leach, diligent, lexicon, lexical, cull, epilogue, astrology, dialectic, alexia, lignite, lexis, legation, lignin, cosmology, gynecologist, ineligibility, dialogic, 153 more
through Proto-Hellenic *lógos
archaeological, pathological, astrological, homologous, etymology, psychopathology, histopathology, bacteriological, 104 more
through Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’
logic, apology, trilogy, analogy, terminology, logos, sociology, pathology, monologue, logistic, prologue, archaeologist, pathologist, eulogy, epistemology, entomology, apologia, etiology, syllogism, bacteriology, bacteriologist, 111 more
Today it means
noun A branch of biology that deals with the functions and activities of life or of living matter (as organs, tissues, or cells) and of the physical and chemical phenomena involved.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- / physiology