Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “hermaphrodite” come from?

Hermaphrodite comes from Ancient Greek Ἑρμαφρόδιτος, blending the god Ἑρμῆς with a feminine form, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots.

hermaphrodite (English): An individual or organism possessing ambiguous...

Definitions

  1. An individual or organism possessing ambiguous...

Ancestry of “hermaphrodite”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishHermaphroditus—
2Ancient GreekἙρμαφρόδιτος—
3Ancient Greek-ός—
4Proto-Hellenic*-os—
5Proto-Indo-European-ósCreates agent nouns from verb stems, denoting...

Words derived from “hermaphrodite”

  • hermaphroditic
  • hermaphroditism
  • pseudohermaphroditism
  • herm
  • pseudohermaphrodite
  • hermaphroditical
  • hermaphroditically
  • pseudohermaphroditic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ós →