English
planetule
Planetule comes from Latin planetula ‘small planet, minor planet’, from Ancient Greek πλανήτης ‘wanderer, vagabond’, and ultimately from πλανάω.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλανάω‘to wander’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπλανήτηςplanḗtēs‘wanderer, vagabond’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplanēta‘planet’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplanetula‘small planet, minor planet’
- Englishearliest quotation 1836planetule
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλανάω‘to wander’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπλανήτηςplanḗtēs‘wanderer, vagabond’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplanēta‘planet’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplanetula‘small planet, minor planet’
- Englishearliest quotation 1836planetule
Earliest quotation: 1836, William Daniel Conybeare, An Elementary Course of Theological Lectures: “At the surface of Mars, for instance, the gravity…”
Formed from planet + -ule
Ancient Greek πλανάω ‘wander about’
Ancient Greek πλανήτης ‘wanderer’
Latin planeta
Old French planete
Middle English planete ‘planet’
English planet
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- ‘flat, broad’
field, floor, explain, palm, explanation, plain, clan, archipelago, fluke, parma, explanatory, playa, flounder, placenta, planar, palatine, polonium, pelagic, placate, esplanade, lech, veld, flay, implacable, floe, plantar, purdah, llano, planta, 49 more
through Ancient Greek πλανάω ‘to wander’
Today it means
noun A little planet.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek πλανάω / planetule