Etymology

organelle

O1R1G2A1N1E1L1L1E1

Today it means: A specialized structure found inside cells that carries out a specific life process (e.g. ribosomes, vacuoles). Full definition →

English organ ← Middle English organe ← Old French organe
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
  2. Ancient Greekὄργανον (órganon)
  3. Latinorganum
  4. Old Frenchorgane
  5. Middle Englishorgane
  6. Englishorgan
  7. English todayorganelle

From organ + -elle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.