Where does “radio” come from?
Radio derives from English radiotelegraphy, combining English radio- (from Latin radius, meaning ray) with English telegraphy, which blends English tele- (from Ancient Greek τῆλε, meaning distant) and English -graphy (from Ancient Greek γράφω, meaning to write).
radio (English): The technology that allows for the transmission...
Definitions
- The technology that allows for the transmission...
Ancestry of “radio”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | radiotelegraphy | The process and techniques of sending telegrams... |
| 2 | English | telegraphy | communication at a distance by means of the... |
| 3 | English | Telegraph | any process for transmitting arbitrarily long messages over a long distance using a symbolic code |
| 4 | French | télégraphe | telegraph |
| 5 | French | télé- | tele- |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | τῆλε | far off, afar, far away |
| 7 | Latin | commūnicāre | — |
| 8 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 9 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | Russian | кит | whale; genitive plural of ки́та |
| 16 | Old Church Slavonic | китъ | whale |
| 17 | Ancient Greek | κῆτος | whale, sea monster; abyss |