Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “photolysis” come from?

Photolysis derives from Ancient Greek φωτ- (from φῶς, φᾰ́ος "light") and -lysis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰeh₂- meaning "to shine."

photolysis (English): Any chemical reaction in which a compound is...

Definitions

  1. Any chemical reaction in which a compound is...

Ancestry of “photolysis”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekλύσιςloosing, releasing, release, ransoming;...
2Ancient Greek-σῐς"suffix forming nouns"
3Ancient Greek-τιςEarlier form of -σις , retained after dentals δ,...
4Proto-Indo-European-tisDerives abstract/action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “photolysis”

  • biophotolysis
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tis →