Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “subatomic” come from?

Subatomic derives from English atomic, from Ancient Greek ἄτομος meaning indivisible, composed of the prefix ἀ- meaning not and a root ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sem- meaning one.

subatomic (English): Relating to particles that are constituents of...

Definitions

  1. Relating to particles that are constituents of...

Ancestry of “subatomic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishatomicOf or relating to atoms; composed of atoms;...
2English-icUsed to form adjectives from nouns with the...
3EnglishimageAn optical or other representation of a real...
4Frenchimagepicture, image; frame; first-person singular...
5Portugueseimagemimage; picture; figure; image; image; face
6Spanishimagenimage
7Italianimmagineimage; imago
8Latinimāginem—
9Latinim-Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in
10Latinīn-—
11Latinîn—
12Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
13Proto-Italicenin
14Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “subatomic”

  • subatomically
  • subatomics
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →