Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “cephalad” come from?

Cephalad derives from the combining form cephalo-, from Ancient Greek κεφαλή meaning head, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʰebʰ-.

cephalad (English): Towards the head

Definitions

  1. Towards the head

Ancestry of “cephalad”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishADInitialism of anno Domini ; in the year of our...
2EnglishadvantageAny condition, circumstance, opportunity or...
3Middle Englishavantage—
4Old Frenchavantageadvantage; profit; gain
5Old Frenchavantbeforehand; earlier
6Latinab ante—
7Latinantebefore, in front, forwards; before; before,...
8Ancient Greekκλίσιςbending, inclination; a lying down; a place for...
9Ancient Greek-σῐς"suffix forming nouns"
10Ancient Greek-τιςEarlier form of -σις , retained after dentals δ,...
11Proto-Indo-European-tisDerives abstract/action nouns from verb roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tis →