Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “diacritical” come from?

diacritical (English) comes from English diacritic, from Ancient Greek διακριτικός, from Ancient Greek κριτικός, from Ancient Greek κρίσις, from Ancient Greek κρίνω, from Proto-Hellenic kríňňō, from Proto-Indo-European krinyéti, from Proto-Indo-European krey- — to sift, separate, divide.

diacritical (English): Capable of distinguishing or of making a...

Definitions

  1. Capable of distinguishing or of making a...

Ancestry of “diacritical”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishdiacriticdistinguishing; Denoting a distinguishing mark...
2Ancient Greekδιακριτικόςdistinguishing, separative
3Ancient GreekκριτικόςAble to judge, discerning, critical; critic,...
4Ancient Greekκρίσιςdecision, determination, judgment; trial,...
5Ancient GreekκρίνωTo separate, divide, part, distinguish between...
6Proto-Hellenickríňňō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeankrinyéti—
8Proto-Indo-Europeankrey-to sift, separate, divide
Every word from Proto-Indo-European krey- →