Where does “ontogeny” come from?
Ontogeny derives from Ancient Greek ὤν (present participle of εἰμί, "to be") combined with -geny, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European h₁es-, the root for existence and being.
ontogeny (English): ontogenesis
Ancestry of “ontogeny”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | onto | Upon; on top of; Aware of; Being an onto function... |
| 2 | English | to | A particle used for marking the following verb as... |
| 3 | Middle English | to | toe; to; too |
| 4 | Middle English | tone | the one |
| 5 | Latin | tonus | The stretching or straining of a rope; A strain;... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | τόνος | rope, cord; chord; tone, note |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | tónos | rope, cord; tension |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | tónos | something stretched; chord, fiber, string |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ten- | to stretch, to extend |