Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “biometric” come from?

Biometric comes from English -metric via French -métrique and Ancient Greek βίος (bios, "life") combined with Ancient Greek -τρον (-tron, "instrument for measuring"), tracing ultimately to Proto-Indo-European gʷih₃wós and -trom.

biometric (English): Of, pertaining to or using biometrics

Definitions

  1. Of, pertaining to or using biometrics

Ancestry of “biometric”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishmetricOf or relating to the metric system of...
2EnglishchronometricOf or pertaining to a chronometer or to...
3English-metricForming adjectives corresponding to nouns in...
4French-métrique-metric
5Latinmetricusmetrical; metric, metrical; metric
6Latinmetruma measure
7Ancient Greekμέτρονsomething used to measure: measure, rule, weight;...
8Ancient Greek-τρονForms instrument nouns
9Proto-Hellenic-tronForms instrument nouns from verb stems
10Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
11Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Words derived from “biometric”

  • biometrically
  • multibiometric
  • nonbiometric
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →