Etymology

nonlinear

N1O1N1L1I1N1E1A1R1

Today it means: Of a set of points, not lying on a straight line. Full definition →

English linear ← Latin līneāris ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Germanic*ne
  3. Proto-Indo-European*ís?
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
  5. Proto-Germanic*ainaz
  6. Proto-Germanic*nainaz
  7. Proto-West Germanic*nain
  8. Old Englishnān
  9. Middle Englishnon
  10. Old Englishnān
  11. Old Englishnān-
  12. Middle Englishnon-
  13. Englishnon-
  14. Proto-Indo-European*līnom
  15. Proto-Italic*līnom
  16. Latinlīnum
  17. Latinlīneus
  18. Latinlīnea
  19. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  20. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  21. Latinlīneāris
  22. Englishlinear
  23. English todaynonlinear

From non- + linear.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.