Etymograph

English

bathmophobia

Bathmophobia comes from Ancient Greek βαθμός ‘step’, from βαίνω ‘to go’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-1‘to come, to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷm̥yéti2‘to come’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəňňō2reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβαίνω3baínō‘to go’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβαθμός4bathmós‘step’root of βαίνω
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2011bathmophobia4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek βαίνω
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek βαθμός
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English bathmophobia
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, Martin Bodek, Lulu.com: “It is closely related to bathmophobia, which is a…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti‘to come, to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷm̥yétiWiktionary, Ancient Greek βαίνω‘to come’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəňňōWiktionary, Ancient Greek βαίνωreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβαίνωWiktionary, Ancient Greek βαθμόςbaínō‘to go’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβαθμόςWiktionary, English bathmophobiabathmós‘step’root of βαίνω
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2011bathmophobiaWiktionary, English bathmophobia. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, Martin Bodek, Lulu.com: “It is closely related to bathmophobia, which is a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’

come, coming, base, basic, basis, revenue, venue, bass, cum, convenience, pug, contravention, misadventure, quim, 53 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti ‘to come’

event, convention, adventure, avenue, inventory, advent, intervene, inventor, invent, souvenir, provenance, convene, revenant, circumvention, contravene, 32 more

through Ancient Greek βαίνω ‘to go’

diabetes, acrobat, 10 more

Today it means

noun The fear of stairs and steep slopes.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bathmophobia”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti, Ancient Greek βαίνω, Ancient Greek βαθμός. 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 *gʷem- / bathmophobia

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