Where does “chiasmus” come from?
chiasmus (Late Latin) comes from Ancient Greek χιασμός, from Ancient Greek χιάζειν, from Ancient Greek Χ, from Ancient Greek Χριστός, from Ancient Greek χρίω, from Proto-Indo-European gʰrēy-, from Proto-Indo-European gʰer- — to rub; to stroke; to grind.
Ancestry of “chiasmus”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ancient Greek | χιασμός | marked with an X; crosswise arrangement |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | χιάζειν | to mark with a chi; to mark with the letter chi |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | Χ | Chi; chi |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | Χριστός | anointed; messiah; annointed, the annointed one,... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | χρίω | to rub or smear (especially the body) with oil or unguents; to anoint |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰrēy- | to smear; to paint, streak, smear |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | gʰer- | to rub; to stroke; to grind |