Etymology

petal

pet·al
P3E1T1A1L1

Today it means: One of the component parts of the corolla of a flower. It applies particularly, but not necessarily only, when the corolla consists of separate parts, that is when the petals are not connately fused. Petals are often brightly colored. Full definition →

Ancient Greek πέταλον (pétalon) ← Proto-Hellenic *pétalos ← Proto-Indo-European *pet-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*peth₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pet-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pétalos
  4. Ancient Greekπέταλον (pétalon)
  5. English todaypetal

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πέταλον (pétalon), from πέταλος (pétalos, “broad, flat”), from Proto-Hellenic *pétalos, from Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- (“to spread out”), whence Latin pandō and Proto-Germanic *faþmaz (“embrace”) (English fathom).

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekπέταλον all →

dialypetalouspetalum

Proto-Hellenic*pétalos all →

petalum

Proto-Indo-European*peth₂- all →

passpatentperpetuatepatinapasserinepennonletters patentpetalum

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.