English
anhydrous
Anhydrous comes from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ ‘water’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wed-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-1‘water’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wódr̥2‘water’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*údōr2‘water’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὕδωρ3húdōr‘water’
- Englishearliest quotation 1997anhydrous3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὕδωρ
- 3 Wiktionary, English anhydrous
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, A. J. Taylor, D. S. Mothram: “Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥‘water’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wódr̥Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὕδωρ‘water’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*údōrWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὕδωρ‘water’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὕδωρWiktionary, English anhydroushúdōr‘water’
- Englishearliest quotation 1997anhydrousWiktionary, English anhydrous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, A. J. Taylor, D. S. Mothram: “Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were…”
Formed from an
Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’
Proto-Germanic *ainaz ‘one’
Proto-West Germanic *ain ‘one’
Old English ān ‘a’
Middle English an ‘a’
English an
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘water’
wet, wash, und, abundance, abundant, surround, redundant, otter, vitriol, vitreous, inundate, undine, 43 more
through Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ ‘water’
through Proto-Hellenic *údōr ‘water’
hydrate, aldehyde, hydride, 14 more
through Ancient Greek ὕδωρ ‘water’
Today it means
adj Having little or no water.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “anhydrous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥, Ancient Greek ὕδωρ. 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 *wed- / anhydrous