Etymology

hemimetabolism

H4E1M3I1M3E1T1A1B3O1L1I1S1M3

Today it means: Incomplete metamorphosis; the mode of development of certain insects that includes three distinct stages: egg, nymph, and imago (adult). Full definition →

English metabolism ← Ancient Greek μετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ) ← Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sēmi
  3. Proto-Hellenic[Term?]
  4. Ancient Greekἡμῐ- (hēmĭ-)
  5. Englishhemi-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*me
  7. Proto-Indo-European*meth₂?
  8. Ancient Greekμετᾰ́ (metắ)
  9. Ancient Greekμετα- (meta-)
  10. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  11. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  12. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  13. Ancient Greekμεταβάλλω (metabállō)
  14. Ancient Greekμετᾰβολή (metăbolḗ)
  15. Englishmetabolism
  16. English todayhemimetabolism

From hemi- + metabolism.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.