Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tropical” come from?

Tropical comes from English tropic, derived from Ancient Greek τροπικός, from τροπή meaning "a turning," from τρέπω meaning "to turn," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European trep- with the suffix -eh₂.

tropical (English): Of or pertaining to the tropics, the equatorial...

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to the tropics, the equatorial...

Ancestry of “tropical”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtropicEither of the two parallels of latitude 23°27′...
2Frenchtropique—
3Late Latintropicusof or pertaining to the solstice, as a noun, one...
4Ancient Greekτροπικόςof or pertaining to a turn or change; of or...
5Ancient Greekτροπήa turning; turning away the enemy, a rout;...
6Ancient Greek-ή—
7Ancient Greek-ᾱnominal suffix
8Proto-Indo-European-éh₂—

Words derived from “tropical”

  • subtropical
  • troppo
  • neotropical
  • extratropical
  • intertropical
  • semitropical
  • Afrotropical
  • tropically
  • pantropical
  • nontropical
  • tropicalization
  • lusotropicalism
  • tropicality
  • tropicalist
  • tropicalize
  • palaeotropical
  • intratropical
  • supertropical
  • isotropical
  • pantropically
  • subtropically
  • ultratropical
  • tropicalness
  • non-tropical
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂ →