Etymology

hetero-

Today it means: Varied, heterogeneous; a set that has variety with respect to the root. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros) ← Proto-Hellenic *hə́teros ← Proto-Indo-European *sḿ̥teros
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sḿ̥teros
  3. Proto-Hellenic*hə́teros
  4. Ancient Greekἕτερος (héteros)
  5. English todayhetero-

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros, “other, another, different”).

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekἕτερος all →

heterochthonicheterochthonousheterodontheterologicalheterophoriaheteroradical

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.