Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “lemniscus” come from?

Lemniscus comes from Latin lemniscus, from Ancient Greek λημνῐ́σκος, derived from the island of Λῆμνος in Ancient Greek, with the suffix -iskos from Proto-Indo-European.

lemniscus (English): One of two oval bodies hanging from the interior...

Definitions

  1. One of two oval bodies hanging from the interior...

Ancestry of “lemniscus”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinlēmniscus—
2Ancient Greekλημνῐ́σκοςwoollen fillet, ribbon
3Ancient GreekΛῆμνοςa Greek island Lemnos
4Phoenician𐤋𐤁𐤍white
5Proto-Semiticlaban-dairy
Every word from Proto-Semitic laban- →