English
temenos
Temenos comes from Ancient Greek τέμενος ‘a piece of ground cut or marked off, precinct’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *temh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-‘to cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*témh₁nosreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*témenosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμενοςtémenos‘a piece of ground cut or marked off, precinct’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019temenos
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temh₁-‘to cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*témh₁nosreconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*témenosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτέμενοςtémenos‘a piece of ground cut or marked off, precinct’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019temenos
Earliest quotation: 2019, Tim Mackintosh-Smith, Arabs: “The three spheres – political, commercial, spiritual – intersected,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- ‘to cut’
atom, contempt, epitome, tome, templar, toma, dichotomous, tempestuous, 34 more
Today it means
noun Ground under, surrounding and adjacent to a temple; a sacred enclosure or precinct.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *temh₁- / temenos