Etymology

basipterygium

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Today it means: A cartilage at the base of the fins of some fish that develops into the metapterygium upon maturity. Full definition →

English pterygium ← Latin basis ← Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gʷémtis
  3. Proto-Hellenic*gʷə́tis
  4. Ancient Greekβᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)
  5. Latinbasis
  6. Englishbasi-
  7. Englishpterygium
  8. English todaybasipterygium

From basi- + pterygium.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.