Etymology

apoptosis

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Today it means: A process of programmed cell death by which cells undergo an ordered sequence of events which leads to death of the cell, as occurs during growth and development of the organism, as a part of normal cell aging, or as a response to cellular injury. Full definition →

First used 20th c.Ancient Greek ἀπόπτωσις (apóptōsis) ← Proto-Hellenic *apó ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
  3. Proto-Hellenic*apó
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓πό (ăpó)
  5. Ancient Greekἀπο- (apo-)
  6. Ancient Greekπῑ́πτω (pī́ptō)
  7. Ancient Greekπτῶσις (ptôsis)
  8. Ancient Greekἀπόπτωσις (apóptōsis)
  9. English todayapoptosis

From Ancient Greek ἀπόπτωσις (apóptōsis, “a falling off”), from ἀπό (apó, “away from”) + πτῶσις (ptôsis, “falling”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 20th c. A process of programmed cell death by which cells undergo an ordered sequence of events which leads to death of the cell, as occurs during growth and development of the organism, as a part of normal cell aging, or as a response to cellular injury.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.