Etymograph

English

pleuston

Pleuston comes from Ancient Greek πλεῦσις ‘sailing’, from πλέω ‘to sail (in a boat)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plew-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-‘to sail, flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pléwō‘to sail’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλέω‘to sail (in a boat)’
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπλεῦσιςpleûsis‘sailing’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1974pleuston

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-‘to sail, flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pléwō‘to sail’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλέω‘to sail (in a boat)’
  4. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEπλεῦσιςpleûsis‘sailing’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1974pleuston

Earliest quotation: 1974, G. O. Mackie, VIII: Location, Flotation and Dispersal: “They^([Cnidarians]) are also the dominant organisms of the marine…”

The story

The -t- is on analogy with the coordinate terms.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘to sail, flow’

fly, flow, flew, pneumonia, fowl, plough, flue, flay, plover, 24 more

through Ancient Greek πλέω ‘to sail (in a boat)’

plutonium, plutocracy, 2 more

Today it means

noun The organisms that live floating at the surface of water.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *plew- / pleuston

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