Etymology

catacaustic

C3A1T1A1C3A1U1S1T1I1C3

Today it means: a caustic curve formed by light reflecting from a curved surface Full definition →

English caustic ← Ancient Greek κᾰτᾰ- (kătă-) ← Proto-Hellenic *kətá
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Indo-European*ḱm̥-th₂der.?
  4. Proto-Hellenic*kətá
  5. Ancient Greekκᾰτᾰ́ (kătắ)
  6. Ancient Greekκᾰτᾰ- (kătă-)
  7. Englishcata-
  8. Englishcaustic
  9. English todaycatacaustic

From cata- + caustic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.