Where does “physiognomia” come from?
physiognomia (Latin) comes from Ancient Greek φυσιογνωμία, from Ancient Greek φύσις, from Ancient Greek φύω, from Proto-Indo-European bʰuHyéti, from Proto-Indo-European -yéti, from Proto-Indo-European yé-, from Chichewa iye — he, she.
Ancestry of “physiognomia”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Ancient Greek | φυσιογνωμία | — |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | φύσις | origin, birth; nature, quality, property; later,... |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | φύω | To bring forth, produce, generate, cause to grow;... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰuHyéti | to be becoming, to be growing, to be appearing |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 7 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |