Etymology

self-similar

Today it means: Having self-similarity; having parts that resemble the whole, as a fractal has. Full definition →

English similar ← Middle English self- ← Old English self-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Englishsimilar
  9. English todayself-similar

From self- + similar.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.