Etymograph

English

anthropoid

Anthropoid comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθρωποειδής ‘looking like a human, in human form, humanoid’, from ὤψ ‘face, appearance, look’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-1‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ókʷs1‘eye’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ókʷs1‘eye’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὤψ2ṓps‘face, appearance, look’uncertain
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄνθρωπος3‘human being’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνθρωποειδής4anthrōpoeidḗs‘looking like a human, in human form, humanoid’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1912anthropoid4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὤψ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος, which cites Beekes
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀνθρωποειδής
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English anthropoid
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes: “The tribe of anthropoids over which Kerchak ruled with…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὤψ‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ókʷsWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὤψ‘eye’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ókʷsWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὤψ‘eye’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὤψWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος, which cites Beekesṓps‘face, appearance, look’uncertain
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄνθρωποςWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀνθρωποειδής‘human being’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀνθρωποειδήςWiktionary, English anthropoidanthrōpoeidḗs‘looking like a human, in human form, humanoid’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1912anthropoidWiktionary, English anthropoid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes: “The tribe of anthropoids over which Kerchak ruled with…”

Equivalent to anthrop- + -oid

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’

eye, optics, oculus, ocular, ogle, inoculation, monocle, awk, synoptic, inoculate, doily, 39 more

Today it means

adj Having characteristics of a human, usually in terms of shape or appearance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “anthropoid”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ὤψ, Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος, Ancient Greek ἀνθρωποειδής. 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 *h₃ekʷ- / anthropoid

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