Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “neoteny” come from?

neoteny (English) comes from German Neotenie, from Ancient Greek νέος, from Latin fēlēs, from Hungarian fél, from Proto-Uralic pide, from Finnish pitää, from Proto-Finnic pitädäk, from Proto-Finno-Ugric pitä-.

neoteny (English): The retention of juvenile characteristics in the...

Definitions

  1. The retention of juvenile characteristics in the...

Ancestry of “neoteny”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanNeotenie—
2Ancient Greekνέοςyoung; youthful; new, fresh
3Latinfēlēs—
4Hungarianfélto fear, to be afraid of something; to fear...
5Proto-Uralicpidetall
6Finnishpitääto hold, grasp, grip; to keep, take; to like, be...
7Proto-Finnicpitädäkto hold, to grasp; to keep
8Proto-Finno-Ugricpitä-—

Words derived from “neoteny”

  • neotenic
  • neotenous
  • neotenin
  • neotenously
  • ネオテニー
Every word from Proto-Finno-Ugric pitä- →