Where does “radio” come from?
radio (Romanian) comes from German Radio, from English radio, from English radiotelegraphy, from English telegraphy, from English Telegraph, from French télégraphe, from French télé-, from Ancient Greek τῆλε — whale, sea monster; abyss.
radio (Romanian): radio
Ancestry of “radio”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | German | Radio | radio |
| 2 | English | radio | The technology that allows for the transmission... |
| 3 | English | radiotelegraphy | The process and techniques of sending telegrams... |
| 4 | English | telegraphy | communication at a distance by means of the... |
| 5 | English | Telegraph | — |
| 6 | French | télégraphe | telegraph |
| 7 | French | télé- | tele- |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | τῆλε | far off, afar, far away |
| 9 | Latin | commūnicāre | — |
| 10 | Latin | commūnis | — |
| 11 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 12 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 16 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 17 | Russian | кит | whale; genitive plural of ки́та |
| 18 | Old Church Slavonic | китъ | whale |
| 19 | Ancient Greek | κῆτος | whale, sea monster; abyss |