Where does “anarchical” come from?
Anarchical derives from English anarchy and the English suffix -ic, which trace back through Ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarchia, "absence of rule") formed from ἀν- (an-, "without") and ἀρχία (archia, "rule"), ultimately rooted in Proto-Indo-European elements.
anarchical (English): Anarchic
Ancestry of “anarchical”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | anarchy | The state of a society being without authorities... |
| 2 | New Latin | anarchia | — |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | ἀναρχία | lack of a leader; lawlessness, anarchy |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | ἀν- | Alternative form of ἀ- used before a vowel;... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ὀρθός | straight, upright, erect; straight forward, in a... |
| 6 | Proto-Hellenic | ortʰwós | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃r̥dʰwós | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃erdʰ- | to increase, grow; upright, high |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -wós | Creates adjectives from verb stems |