Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “cochlear” come from?

Cochlear derives from Latin cochlearis, from cochlea meaning snail shell, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -yós, a suffix forming adjectives.

cochlear (English): Of or pertaining to the cochlea

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to the cochlea

Ancestry of “cochlear”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-arOf, near, or pertaining to; Forming nouns such as...
2Middle English-ar—
3Old English-eremasculine agent suffix, originally applied only...
4Proto-West Germanic-ārī-er
5Proto-Germanic-ārijaz-er
6Latin-ārius—
7Proto-Italic*-āzios—

Words derived from “cochlear”

  • vestibulocochlear
  • intracochlear
  • extracochlear
  • noncochlear
  • sacculocochlear
  • intracochlearly
  • cochlearly
  • postcochlear
Every word from Proto-Italic *-āzios →