Etymology

cosmetic

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Today it means: Imparting or improving beauty, particularly the beauty of the complexion. Full definition →

French cosmétique ← Ancient Greek κοσμητική
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκοσμητική“the art of dress and ornament”
  2. French · derived fromcosmétique
  3. English todaycosmetic

From French cosmétique, from Ancient Greek κοσμητική (kosmētikḗ, “the art of dress and ornament”), κοσμητικός (kosmētikós), from κοσμητής (kosmētḗs, “orderer, director, decorator”), from κοσμέω (kosméō, “to order, to arrange, to rule, to adorn, to equip, to dress, to embellish”), from κόσμος (kósmos, “order”). By surface analysis, cosmos + -etic.

Words from the same roots

Frenchcosmétique all →

Ancient Greekκοσμητική all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.