Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “poetic” come from?

Poetic derives from Middle French poetique, from Latin poeticus, from Ancient Greek ποιητικός, from the verb ποιέω meaning to make or compose.

poetic (English): Relating to poetry; Characteristic of poets;...

Definitions

  1. Relating to poetry; Characteristic of poets;...

Ancestry of “poetic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchpoetique—
2Latinpoeticuspoetic
3Ancient Greekποιητικόςcreator; making, producing
4Ancient Greek-τικόςrelating to, suited to, skilled in, able to,...
5Ancient Greek-σιςAdded to verb stems to form abstract nouns or...
6Ancient Greek-τιςEarlier form of -σις , retained after dentals δ,...
7Proto-Indo-European-tisDerives abstract/action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “poetic”

  • poetically
  • unpoetic
  • mythopoetic
  • ethnopoetic
  • theopoetic
  • poeticism
  • unpoetically
  • poeticize
  • nonpoetic
  • antipoetic
  • poeticization
  • mythopoetically
  • poeticise
  • ecopoetic
  • poeticness
  • sociopoetic
  • mythopoeticize
  • wax poetic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tis →