Etymology

acritarch

A1C3R1I1T1A1R1C3H4

Today it means: Any small, non-acid-soluble (i.e. non-carbonate, non-siliceous) organic fossil that cannot be classified. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἄκριτος
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἄκριτος“doubtful, indistinguishable”
  2. English todayacritarch

From Ancient Greek ἄκριτος (ákritos, “doubtful, indistinguishable”) + ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “beginning, origin”).

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekἄκριτος all →

acritochromacy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.