Etymology

Pnyx

P3N1Y4X8

Today it means: A hill in Athens west of the Acropolis with a stone platform and steps set into its side, which was used as the meeting place of the democratic assembly in Ancient Greece. Full definition →

Ancient Greek Πνύξ ← Proto-Indo-European *puḱ-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*puḱ-“to press together”
  2. Ancient Greek · borrowed fromΠνύξ
  3. English todayPnyx

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Πνύξ (Pnúx); since ancient times it has been claimed the word is derived from πυκνός (puknós, “close-packed; dense; thick”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ- (“to press together”), but the Oxford English Dictionary considers this a folk etymology with no evidence supporting it.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.