Etymology

Ordovician

O1R1D2O1V4I1C3I1A1N1

Today it means: Of a geologic period within the Paleozoic era; comprises lower, middle and upper epochs from about 488 to 443 million years ago. Full definition →

English Ordovices ← Latin Ordovīcē ← Proto-Celtic *wiketi
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₃erg-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-der.?
  3. Proto-Celtic*ordos
  4. Proto-Indo-European*weyk-
  5. Proto-Celtic*wiketi
  6. LatinOrdovīcē
  7. EnglishOrdovices
  8. English todayOrdovician

From Ordovices + -ian. Coined by English geologist Charles Lapworth in 1879 after the Celtic tribe of the Ordovices.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.