Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “lithosphere” come from?

Lithosphere derives from English sphere combined with litho-, from Greek líthos meaning stone.

lithosphere (English): The rigid, mechanically strong, outer layer of...

Definitions

  1. The rigid, mechanically strong, outer layer of...

Ancestry of “lithosphere”, 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-ess—
10Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “lithosphere”

  • lithospheric
  • nonlithospheric
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →