Etymology

chiasmus

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Today it means: An inversion of the relationship between the elements of phrases. Full definition →

Latin chiasmu ← Ancient Greek χιασμός (khiasmós)
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekχῖ (khî)
  2. Ancient Greekχῑᾰ́ζω (khīắzō)
  3. Ancient Greekχιασμός (khiasmós)
  4. Latinchiasmu
  5. English todaychiasmus

Learned borrowing from Latin chiasmus, borrowed from Ancient Greek χιασμός (khiasmós), from χῑᾰ́ζω (khīắzō, “to mark with an X”) + -μός (-mós).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.