English
centesis
Centesis comes from Ancient Greek κέντησις ‘the act of pricking’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- ‘to sting’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱent-1‘to sting’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκεντέω2kentéō‘I prick’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκέντησις2kéntēsis‘the act of pricking’
- Englishtodaycentesis2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κεντέω
- 2 Wiktionary, English centesis
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱent-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κεντέω‘to sting’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκεντέωWiktionary, English centesiskentéō‘I prick’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκέντησιςWiktionary, English centesiskéntēsis‘the act of pricking’
- EnglishtodaycentesisWiktionary, English centesis
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- ‘to sting’
through Ancient Greek κεντέω ‘I prick’
Today it means
noun Puncture or perforation.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “centesis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek κεντέω. 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 *ḱent- / centesis