Etymograph

English

plexus

Plexus comes from Latin plexus ‘a twining, plaiting, braid’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plektōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplectō‘to plait, weave, braid’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplexus‘a twining, plaiting, braid’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1866plexus

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to fold, plait, weave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plektōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplectō‘to plait, weave, braid’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplexus‘a twining, plaiting, braid’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1866plexus

Earliest quotation: 1866, Brande & C, A Dictionary of Science: “Plexus (Lat.). The system of equations required for the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to fold, plait, weave’

apply, display, employment, reply, employ, imply, explicit, exploitation, deploy, replica, exploit, fiasco, implicit, complication, complicate, flax, accomplice, flack, ploy, complicity, ply, inexplicable, implicate, supple, supplication, pliable, triplicate, flagon, pliant, explication, splay, 34 more

through Latin plectō ‘to plait, weave, braid’

complex, plait, 8 more

Today it means

noun A network of anastomosing or interwoven nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatic vessels.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / plexus

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