English
alkoxy
Alkoxy comes from French oxygène ‘oxygen’, from Ancient Greek γένος ‘race, stock, kin’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-1‘to produce’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁os1‘race, lineage’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*génos1‘race’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγένος1génos‘race, stock, kin’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentoxygène1‘oxygen’
- English1500–presentoxygen1
- Englishtodayalkoxy1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English alkoxy
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-Wiktionary, English alkoxy‘to produce’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁osWiktionary, English alkoxy‘race, lineage’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*génosWiktionary, English alkoxy‘race’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγένοςWiktionary, English alkoxygénos‘race, stock, kin’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentoxygèneWiktionary, English alkoxy‘oxygen’
- English1500–presentoxygenWiktionary, English alkoxy
- EnglishtodayalkoxyWiktionary, English alkoxy
A compound of alk- + -oxy
Sumerian Sumerian form ‘kohl’
…
Andalusian Arabic كُحُول
Medieval Latin alcohol
Middle English alcofol
English alcohol
English alk-
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’
kind, king, nature, german, nation, engine, native, pregnant, genuine, genetic, genius, generate, ken, generous, gentle, indigenous, generic, transgender, genesis, naive, kin, noel, generosity, regeneration, innate, ingenious, genital, nee, germ, nativity, genealogy, natal, nada, degeneration, nascent, gentile, janata, gens, puny, generative, 98 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os ‘race, lineage’
general, generation, gender, gene, genre, genuinely, genus, 28 more
through Proto-Hellenic *génos ‘race’
through Ancient Greek γένος ‘race, stock, kin’
hydrogen, genocide, glycogen, estrogenic, 11 more
through French oxygène ‘oxygen’
Today it means
noun any univalent radical R-O-, or anion R-O⁻, where R is an alkyl group
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “alkoxy”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / alkoxy