Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “apoptosis” come from?

Apoptosis comes from Ancient Greek ἀπόπτωσις, composed of the preposition ἀπό and the suffix -τις, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European h₂epo and peth₂-.

apoptosis (English): A process of programmed cell death by which cells...

Definitions

  1. A process of programmed cell death by which cells...

Ancestry of “apoptosis”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekἀπόπτωσιςa falling off or away; falling of things that...
2Ancient Greekἀπο-Indicating movement: away, from, off; Indicating...
3Ancient Greekἀπόfrom, away from; because of, as a result of
4Ancient GreekἭλιοςsun
5Ancient GreekτύποςA blow, pressing; The results of a blow: mark,...
6Ancient Greekτύπτωto beat, strike, smite; to beat, strike oneself
7Proto-Indo-European(s)tewp-to push, to stick
8Proto-Indo-European(s)tew-to push, to hit

Words derived from “apoptosis”

  • antiapoptosis
  • lipoapoptosis
  • proapoptosis
  • oncoapoptosis
  • neuroapoptosis
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)tew- →