Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “onomatopoeia” come from?

Onomatopoeia derives from Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιία, from ὀνοματοποιέω, combining ὄνομα (name) with a root from Proto-Indo-European h₃neh₃-.

onomatopoeia (English): The property of a word of sounding like what it...

Definitions

  1. The property of a word of sounding like what it...

Ancestry of “onomatopoeia”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinonomatopoeiaonomatopoeia; Alternative form of onomatopoeia
2Ancient GreekὀνοματοποιίαOnomatopoeia; the creation of a word, especially...
3Ancient Greekὄνομαname; fame; noun, in the wide sense: referring to...
4Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁nómn̥name
5Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃neh₃-to name

Words derived from “onomatopoeia”

  • onomatopoeic
  • onomatopoeically
  • onomatopoeial
  • onomatopoeian
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃neh₃- →