chiropter

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromχείρ“hand”
2. French · derived fromchiroptère
3. English todaychiropter

Coined by William Whewell in 1840 as an adaptation of Cuvier's coinage, French chiroptère, from Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”), equivalent to chiro- + -pter.

Words from the same roots