Etymology

steroid

S1T1E1R1O1I1D2

Today it means: A class of organic compounds having a structure of seventeen carbon atoms arranged in four rings; they are lipids, and occur naturally as sterols, bile acids, adrenal and sex hormones, and some vitamins; many drugs are synthetic steroids. Full definition →

Ancient Greek εἶδος (eîdos) ← Proto-Hellenic *wéidos ← Proto-Indo-European *wéydos
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
  2. Proto-Hellenic*kʰolā́
  3. Ancient Greekχολή (kholḗ)
  4. Proto-Indo-European*ster-
  5. Ancient Greekστερεός (stereós)
  6. Frenchcholestérine
  7. Frenchcholestéro
  8. Englishcholesterol
  9. Englishsterol
  10. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*wéydos
  12. Proto-Hellenic*wéidos
  13. Ancient Greekεἶδος (eîdos)
  14. English todaysteroid

From sterol + -oid.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.