Etymology

asthenosphere

A1S1T1H4E1N1O1S1P3H4E1R1E1

Today it means: A portion of the Earth's upper mantle, below the lithosphere. Full definition →

English sphere ← Middle English spere ← Old French sphere
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*ə-
  4. Ancient Greekἀ- (a-)
  5. Ancient Greekσθένος (sthénos)
  6. Ancient Greekἀσθενής (asthenḗs)
  7. Englishastheno-
  8. Ancient Greekσφαῖρᾰ (sphaîră)
  9. Latinsphaera
  10. Late Latinsphēra
  11. Old Frenchsphere
  12. Middle Englishspere
  13. Englishsphere
  14. English todayasthenosphere

From astheno- + -sphere.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.