Etymograph

English

cathetus

Cathetus comes from Ancient Greek κάθετος ‘perpendicular’, from καθίημι ‘to send down, let fall, let down, lower’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)yeh₁-1‘to throw’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*yīyēmi1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἵημι2‘to release, let go’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαθίημι3‘to send down, let fall, let down, lower’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκάθετος4káthetos‘perpendicular’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcathetus4
  7. Englishtodaycathetus4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἵημι
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek καθίημι
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κάθετος
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English cathetus

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)yeh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἵημι‘to throw’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*yīyēmiWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἵημιreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἵημιWiktionary, Ancient Greek καθίημι‘to release, let go’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκαθίημιWiktionary, Ancient Greek κάθετος‘to send down, let fall, let down, lower’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκάθετοςWiktionary, English cathetuskáthetos‘perpendicular’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcathetusWiktionary, English cathetus
  7. EnglishtodaycathetusWiktionary, English cathetus

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw’

year, project, hour, disease, object, ease, adjacent, jet, injection, jess, trajectory, inject, conjecture, gist, ejection, abject, eject, jetty, ejaculation, jut, subjection, ejaculate, interject, jettison, joist, jetsam, 42 more

through Ancient Greek ἵημι ‘to release, let go’

enema, iambic, 9 more

Today it means

noun A line perpendicular to a surface (or line); in particular, either of the sides of a right triangle other than its hypotenuse.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cathetus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ἵημι, Ancient Greek καθίημι, Ancient Greek κάθετος. 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 *(H)yeh₁- / cathetus

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