Etymograph

English

antiprism

Antiprism comes from Ancient Greek πρῑ́ω ‘to saw’, from πείρω ‘to pierce’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to pass, go forth’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1‘to pass, go forth’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pér-ye-ti1uncertainye-present of *per-
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*péryō1uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπείρω2peírō‘to pierce’uncertain
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρῑ́ω3prī́ō‘to saw’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρίσμᾰ3prísmă
  7. Late Latinmodernprisma3
  8. English1500–presentprism3
  9. Englishtodayantiprism3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πείρω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πρίω
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English antiprism

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πείρω‘to pass, go forth’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pér-ye-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek πείρωuncertainye-present of *per-
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*péryōWiktionary, Ancient Greek πείρωuncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπείρωWiktionary, Ancient Greek πρίωpeírō‘to pierce’uncertain
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρῑ́ωWiktionary, English antiprismprī́ō‘to saw’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρίσμᾰWiktionary, English antiprismprísmă
  7. Late LatinmodernprismaWiktionary, English antiprism
  8. English1500–presentprismWiktionary, English antiprism
  9. EnglishtodayantiprismWiktionary, English antiprism

A compound of anti- + prism

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- ‘forehead’

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts ‘forehead’

Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti ‘opposite’

Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ντῐ́ ‘over against, opposite’

English anti-

Proto-Indo-European *per-

Ancient Greek πρῐ́ω

Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ ‘anything sawn’

Late Latin prisma ‘(geometry) prism’

English prism

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘to pass, go forth’

first, before, support, far, per, report, further, press, fear, opportunity, private, price, practice, port, pre, appreciate, afford, primary, ford, prior, prime, forth, prize, practical, precious, parade, par, pregnant, ferry, pirate, praise, fare, privilege, interpretation, porch, pardon, afar, primitive, prix, petra, 152 more

through Ancient Greek πείρω ‘to pierce’

pore, emporium, prion, 12 more

through Ancient Greek πρῑ́ω ‘to saw’

prismatic, 3 more

Today it means

noun A polyhedron composed of two parallel copies of some particular polygon, connected by an alternating band of triangles.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “antiprism”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek πείρω, Ancient Greek πρίω. 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 *per- / antiprism

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