Where does “cinema” come from?
Cinema comes from French cinéma, shortened from French cinématographe, derived from Ancient Greek κινέω meaning to move, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱey-.
cinema (English): A movie theatre, a movie house; Films...
Definitions
- A movie theatre, a movie house; Films...
Ancestry of “cinema”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | cinéma | cinema; playacting, drama, fuss |
| 2 | French | cinématographe | cinematograph |
| 3 | French | -graphe | -graph; -grapher |
| 4 | Latin | -graphus | graph |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -γράφος | writer, painter |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | γράφω | to scratch, cut into; to draw, sketch, paint; to... |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | grəpʰō | to scratch, cut or carve into |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | gerbʰ- | to carve |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ger- | to turn, bend, twist, wind; to tie, bind... |