Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “merism” come from?

merism (English) comes from Ancient Greek μερισμός, from Ancient Greek μερίζω, from Ancient Greek -ίζω, from Proto-Hellenic -íďďō, from Proto-Indo-European -idyéti, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.

merism (English): A reference to something by its polar extremes,...

Definitions

  1. A reference to something by its polar extremes,...

Ancestry of “merism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekμερισμόςdivision; partition
2Ancient Greekμερίζωto divide into parts
3Ancient Greek-ίζωUsed to form verbs from nouns, adjectives and...
4Proto-Hellenic-íďďō—
5Proto-Indo-European-idyéti—
6Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
7Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-—
8Chichewaiyehe, she
Every word from Chichewa iye →