Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “atomic” come from?

Atomic derives from English atom, from Ancient Greek ἄτομος meaning indivisible, from the prefix ἀ- meaning not and a root from Proto-Indo-European sem- meaning one.

atomic (English): Of or relating to atoms; composed of atoms;...

Definitions

  1. Of or relating to atoms; composed of atoms;...

Ancestry of “atomic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-icUsed to form adjectives from nouns with the...
2EnglishimageAn optical or other representation of a real...
3Frenchimagepicture, image; frame; first-person singular...
4Portugueseimagemimage; picture; figure; image; image; face
5Spanishimagenimage
6Italianimmagineimage; imago
7Latinimāginem—
8Latinim-Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in
9Latinīn-—
10Latinîn—
11Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
12Proto-Italicenin
13Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “atomic”

  • subatomic
  • interatomic
  • diatomic
  • atomicity
  • polyatomic
  • atomically
  • monatomic
  • nonatomic
  • monoatomic
  • triatomic
  • hexatomic
  • pentatomic
  • equiatomic
  • heteroatomic
  • tetratomic
  • intraatomic
  • postatomic
  • pseudoatomic
  • multiatomic
  • subatomically
  • homoatomic
  • superatomic
  • preatomic
  • biatomic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →