Etymology

kleptomaniac

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Today it means: One who steals compulsively. Full definition →

Ancient Greek κλέπτω ← Proto-Hellenic *klépt͏̌ō ← Proto-Indo-European *klep-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*klep-
  2. Proto-Hellenic · derived from*klépt͏̌ō
  3. Ancient Greek · derived fromκλέπτω“I steal”
  4. English todaykleptomaniac

From Ancient Greek κλέπτω (kléptō, “I steal”) (from Proto-Hellenic *klépt͏̌ō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *klep-) + -maniac.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekκλέπτω all →

kleptomaniakleptogenesis

Proto-Indo-European*klep- all →

clepto-klepto-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.