Etymology

oligodendroglia

O1L1I1G2O1D2E1N1D2R1O1G2L1I1A1

Today it means: tissue (neuroglia) consisting of glial cells that are smaller than astrocytes and form the myelin sheath Full definition →

English glia ← Ancient Greek δένδρον (déndron) ← Proto-Indo-European *der-drew-om?
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekὀλῐ́γος (olĭ́gos)
  2. Englisholigo-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*dóruredup.
  4. Proto-Indo-European*der-drew-om?
  5. Ancient Greekδένδρον (déndron)
  6. Englishdendr-
  7. Englishdendro-
  8. Englishglia
  9. English todayoligodendroglia

From oligo- + dendro- + glia.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.