Etymology

-antel

Today it means: Forms names of anti-worm drugs, often pyrantel derivatives. Full definition →

English anthelmintic ← Ancient Greek ἕλμῐνς (hélmĭns) ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ent-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énts
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂énti
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓ντῐ́ (ăntĭ́)
  5. Ancient Greekἀντι- (anti-)
  6. Englishanti-
  7. Englishant-
  8. Ancient Greekἕλμῐνς (hélmĭns)
  9. Englishhelminth
  10. Englishanthelmintic
  11. English today-antel

From anthelmintic (“against parasitic worms”), with simplification of the -nth- and truncation.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.