Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “scepticism” come from?

Scepticism derives from Latin scepticus, from Ancient Greek σκεπτικός, related to the verb σκέπτομαι meaning "to examine," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European speḱ- meaning "to observe."

scepticism (English): alternative form of skepticism

Definitions

  1. alternative form of skepticism

Ancestry of “scepticism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ismUsed to form nouns of action or process or result...
2Latin-ismus-ism
3Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
4Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
5Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems

Words derived from “scepticism”

  • Euro-scepticism
  • technoscepticism
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mós →