Where does “polysemy” come from?

Polysemy comes from English polyseme, from English seme, from English seem, from Latin -ia, from Latin -ivus, from Latin -ia, from Proto-Indo-European sem- meaning "one," from Proto-Indo-European -kos.

polysemy (English): The property of a word, sign or symbol that can...

Definitions

  1. The property of a word, sign or symbol that can...

Ancestry of “polysemy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
2Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
3Old English-iġ-y, -ic
4Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
5Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
6Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →Every word from English -y →Every word from Old English -iġ →