Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “ionosphere” come from?

Ionosphere derives from English ion and English -sphere, with ion from Ancient Greek ἄνειμι (to go up) via ἀνά (up) and Proto-Indo-European h₂en-.

ionosphere (English): The part of the Earth's atmosphere beginning at...

Definitions

  1. The part of the Earth's atmosphere beginning at...

Ancestry of “ionosphere”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsphereA regular three-dimensional object in which every...
2Middle EnglishspereA spear or lance; The Lance of Longinus; A barb...
3Old Frenchspheresphere
4Latinsphēra—
5Ancient Greekσφαῖραball, globe, sphere
6Ancient Greek-ειδήςlike, connected to, from the nature of, full of;...
7Ancient Greek-ήςadjective suffix
8Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
9Proto-Indo-European-sDerives nouns from roots

Words derived from “ionosphere”

  • ionospheric
  • ionospherically
  • ionospherist
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -s →