Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “metallic” come from?

Metallic derives from Latin metallicus, formed with the Latin suffix -icus from Proto-Indo-European -kos, ultimately from Ancient Greek μέταλλευειν.

metallic (English): Of, relating to, or characteristic of metal; Made...

Definitions

  1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of metal; Made...

Ancestry of “metallic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinmetallicusyielding or abounding in metal; metallic; miner;...
2Latin-icusbelonging to; derived from; of or pertaining to;...
3Ancient Greek-ικόςof or pertaining to, in the manner of; -ic
4Ancient Greek-κόςforms adjectives with the sense of 'of or...
5Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “metallic”

  • intermetallic
  • metallicity
  • nonmetallic
  • organometallic
  • polymetallic
  • monometallic
  • metallically
  • semimetallic
  • trimetallic
  • submetallic
  • heterometallic
  • multimetallic
  • unmetallic
  • homometallic
  • metallicness
  • metallicly
  • pseudometallic
  • radiometallic
  • metallicize
  • nanometallic
  • half-metallic
  • nonorganometallic
  • bioorganometallic
  • semimetallicity
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →