antinomy

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. Proto-Indo-European*nem-
7. Proto-Indo-European*németi
8. Proto-Hellenic*némō
9. Ancient Greekνέμω (némō)
10. Ancient Greekνόμος (nómos)
11. Ancient Greekἀντῐνομίᾱ (antĭnomíā)
12. Latinantinomia
13. English todayantinomy

Learned borrowing from Latin antinomia, from Ancient Greek ἀντινομία (antinomía), from ἀντι- (anti-, prefix meaning ‘against’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- (“face; forehead; front”)) + νόμος (nómos, “custom, usage; law, ordinance”) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns), with νόμος (nómos) derived from νέμω (némō, “to deal out, dispense, distribute”) (from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to distribute; to give; to take”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns indicating actions or their results). The English word may be analysed as anti- (prefix meaning ‘against; opposite of’) + -nomy (suffix indicating a system of laws, rules, or knowledge about a body of a particular field).

Words from the same roots