Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “oligotrophic” come from?

Oligotrophic comes from Ancient Greek ὀλίγος meaning "few" combined with τροφή meaning "nourishment" from τρέφω meaning "to nourish," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots -kos and -eh₂.

oligotrophic (English): deficient in nutrition; deficient in plant...

Definitions

  1. deficient in nutrition; deficient in plant...

Ancestry of “oligotrophic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglisholigoAn oligonucleotide
2Englisholigonucleotidea short sequence of nucleotides , typically with...
3EnglishnucleotideThe monomer constituting DNA or RNA biopolymer...
4Englishnucleo-Forming words pertaining to nuclei
5Latinnū̆cleus—
6Latinnuculeapertaining to a small nut
7Latin-eusargentum + API → argenteus; ferrum + API →...
8Ancient Greek-εῖοςForms adjectives, usually with a meaning of "of"...
9Proto-Indo-European-iHwós—
10Proto-Indo-European-wósCreates adjectives from verb stems

Words derived from “oligotrophic”

  • oligotrophication
  • ultraoligotrophic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -wós →