Where does “bilateral” come from?
Bilateral comes from Latin bilateralis, formed from Latin bis meaning twice and Latin lateralis meaning of the side, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ meaning two.
bilateral (English): Having two sides; Involving both sides equally;...
Definitions
- Having two sides; Involving both sides equally;...
Ancestry of “bilateral”, step by step
bilateral traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English bi
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | bi | Bisexual; A bisexual person; A type of jade disk... |
| 2 | English | biceps | Any muscle having two heads; Specifically, the... |
| 3 | Latin | biceps | double-headed, having two heads; having two... |
| 4 | Latin | bis | twice, two times, on two occasions, in two ways |
| 5 | Latin | color | colour, shade; color; pigment; complexion |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | μέτρον | something used to measure: measure, rule, weight;... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | -τρον | Forms instrument nouns |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | -tron | Forms instrument nouns from verb stems |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -trom | Forms nouns denoting a tool or instrument |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -tḗr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |