English
anodynous
Anodynous comes from Latin anōdynos ‘stilling or relieving pain’, and goes back to Ancient Greek ὀδύνη.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀδύνη1‘pain of body’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνώδῠνος2‘allaying pain’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanōdynos3as anōdynus‘stilling or relieving pain’
- Englishearliest quotation 1671anodynous3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀνώδυνος
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin anodynos
- 3 Wiktionary, English anodynous
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, Robert Boyle, An Introduction to the History of Particular Qualities. Chap: “[S]ome Bodies taken into that of a Man, are…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀδύνηWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀνώδυνος‘pain of body’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνώδῠνοςWiktionary, Latin anodynos‘allaying pain’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanōdynosWiktionary, English anodynousas anōdynus‘stilling or relieving pain’
- Englishearliest quotation 1671anodynousWiktionary, English anodynous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, Robert Boyle, An Introduction to the History of Particular Qualities. Chap: “[S]ome Bodies taken into that of a Man, are…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- ‘to eat’
eat, et, anna, obesity, edible, ana, ent, fret, etch, phage, esca, 21 more
Today it means
adj Anodyne.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “anodynous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ἀνώδυνος, Latin anodynos. 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 / Ancient Greek ὀδύνη / anodynous