Etymology

heliotropism

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Today it means: The property of some plants of turning under the influence of light; either positively (towards the light) or negatively (away from the light). Full definition →

English helio- ← Ancient Greek ἥλῐος (hḗlĭos) ← Proto-Hellenic *hāwélios
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sóh₂wl̥
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sh₂wél(i)yos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*hāwélios
  4. Ancient Greekἥλῐος (hḗlĭos)
  5. Englishhelio-
  6. English todayheliotropism

From helio- + -tropism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.