Where does “structuralism” come from?
Structuralism comes from English structure, from Latin structura meaning a joining or building, from Latin struo meaning to pile up or arrange, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ster- meaning to spread or stretch.
structuralism (English): A theory of sociology that views elements of...
Definitions
- A theory of sociology that views elements of...
Ancestry of “structuralism”, step by step
structuralism traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English structural
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | structural | Of, relating to, or having structure; Involving... |
| 2 | English | structure | A cohesive whole built up of distinct parts; The... |
| 3 | Middle French | structure | — |
| 4 | Latin | structūra | the practice or process of building, construction |
| 5 | Latin | struō | to place one thing on top of another, to pile up, join together |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | strowō | pile up; construct, build |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | strew- | to spread, to strew |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | sterh₃- | to spread, extend, stretch out |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ster- | sterile, infertile |
via French structuralisme
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | structuralisme | structuralism |
| 2 | French | -ïsme | -ism, variant of -isme following vowels |
| 3 | Latin | -isma | Alternative form of -ismus; -ism |
| 4 | Latin | -ismus | -ism |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | -ισμός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -μός | Forms abstract nouns |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -mós | Creates action/result nouns from verb stems |