Etymology

epicycloid

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Today it means: The locus of a point on the circumference of a circle that rolls without slipping on the circumference of another circle. Full definition →

English cycloid ← Ancient Greek ἐπῐ- (epĭ-) ← Proto-Hellenic *epí
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  4. Proto-Hellenic*epí
  5. Ancient Greekἐπί (epí)
  6. Ancient Greekἐπῐ- (epĭ-)
  7. Englishepi-
  8. Englishcycloid
  9. English todayepicycloid

From epi- (“above or outside”) + cycloid.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.