Etymology

hypergolic

H4Y4P3E1R1G2O1L1I1C3

Today it means: Igniting spontaneously upon contact with an oxidizer. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ὑπέρ ← German Hypergol
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The story

  1. German · calque ofHypergol
  2. Ancient Greek · derived fromὑπέρ
  3. English todayhypergolic

From Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”) + -ol + -ic, after the model of German Hypergol and hypergolisch. Equivalent to hypergol + -ic.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekὑπέρ all →

hypertrophyhyperemiahyper-hyperduliahypergelasthyperzeugmamaschalyperidrosis

GermanHypergol all →

hypergol

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.