Etymograph

English

rhythm

Rhythm comes from Latin rhythmus, from Ancient Greek ῥῠθμός ‘measured motion, rhythm’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srew- ‘to flow, stream’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-‘to flow, stream’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sru-dʰ-mo-sreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hrutʰmósreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥῠθμόςrhŭthmós‘measured motion, rhythm’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErhythmus
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1872rhythm

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-‘to flow, stream’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*sru-dʰ-mo-sreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hrutʰmósreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥῠθμόςrhŭthmós‘measured motion, rhythm’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErhythmus
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1872rhythm

Earliest quotation: 1872, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “If you hum or whistle the rhythm of the…”

The story

First coined in 1557, from Latin rhythmus, from Ancient Greek ῥυθμός (rhuthmós, “any measured flow or movement, symmetry, rhythm”), from ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow, run, stream, gush”).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *srew- ‘to flow, stream’

stream, maelstrom, rheumatism, rheumatic, rheumatology, hemorrhoid, rheology, 42 more

through Proto-Hellenic *hrutʰmós

arrhythmia, 31 more

Today it means

noun The variation of strong and weak elements (such as duration, accent) of sounds, notably in speech or music, over time; a beat or meter.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *srew- / rhythm

Shirt and support for this word