oligolecty

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*leǵ-“to collect, gather”
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromλεκτός“chosen”
3. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(o)leyg-“indigent, poor; miserable”
4. Ancient Greek · derived fromὀλῐ́γος“few, little”
5. English todayoligolecty

Probably from oligolectic + -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting conditions, qualities, or states). Oligolectic is derived from English oligo- (prefix meaning ‘few’) (from Ancient Greek ὀλῐ́γος (olĭ́gos, “few, little”), from Proto-Indo-European *(o)leyg- (“indigent, poor; miserable”)) + Ancient Greek λεκτός (lektós, “chosen”) (from λέγω (légō, “to choose; to arrange; to gather”), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect, gather”)) + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ from nouns), possibly modelled after eclectic.

Words from the same roots