Etymology Explorer › Romanian

Where does “diacritic” come from?

diacritic (Romanian) comes from French diacritique, from Ancient Greek διακριτικός, from Ancient Greek κριτικός, from Ancient Greek κρίσις, from Ancient Greek κρίνω, from Proto-Hellenic kríňňō, from Proto-Indo-European krinyéti, from Proto-Indo-European krey- — to sift, separate, divide.

diacritic (Romanian): diacritic, diacritical; diacritic

Definitions

  1. diacritic, diacritical; diacritic

Ancestry of “diacritic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchdiacritiquediacritical; diacritic; diacritics
2Ancient Greekδιακριτικόςdistinguishing, separative
3Ancient GreekκριτικόςAble to judge, discerning, critical; critic,...
4Ancient Greekκρίσιςdecision, determination, judgment; trial,...
5Ancient GreekκρίνωTo separate, divide, part, distinguish between...
6Proto-Hellenickríňňō—
7Proto-Indo-Europeankrinyéti—
8Proto-Indo-Europeankrey-to sift, separate, divide
Every word from Proto-Indo-European krey- →