Etymology

cyclops

C3Y4C3L1O1P3S1

Today it means: A one-eyed giant from Greek and Roman mythology. Full definition →

Latin cyclōps ← Ancient Greek Κύκλωψ (Kúklōps) ← Proto-Hellenic *Kúklōps
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Hellenic*Kúklōps
  2. Ancient GreekΚύκλωψ (Kúklōps)
  3. Latincyclōps
  4. English todaycyclops

Borrowed from Latin cyclōps, from Ancient Greek Κύκλωψ (Kúklōps, “Cyclops ['round eyes']”). The sense for copepods is a semantic loan from translingual Cyclops.

Words from the same roots

Ancient GreekΚύκλωψ all →

cyclopiawheel-eyed

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.