Etymology

pectinate

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Today it means: Having narrow ridges or projections aligned close together like the teeth of a comb. Full definition →

Latin pectinātus
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pectinate · adjective, verb1

  1. Latin · borrowed frompectinātus“combed”
  2. English todaypectinate

Borrowed from Latin pectinātus (“combed”), from pectinō (“to comb”), from pecten (“comb”). First attested in the mid-18th century. By surface analysis, Latin pectin- (“comb, scallop”) + -ate.

pectinate · noun2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*peh₂ǵ-
  2. Ancient Greekπήγνῡμι (pḗgnūmi)
  3. Ancient Greekπηκτός (pēktós)
  4. Ancient Greekπηκτικός (pēktikós)
  5. Frenchacide pectique
  6. Frenchpectine
  7. Englishpectin
  8. English todaypectinate

From pectin + -ate (“chemical suffix”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.