Etymograph

English

cestode

Cestode comes from New Latin cestus ‘girdle, belt’, from Ancient Greek κεντέω ‘to prick, goad, spur on, stab’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- ‘to sting’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱent-1‘to sting’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκεντέω2‘to prick, goad, spur on, stab’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκεστός3kestós‘of Aphrodite’s charmed girdle’
  4. New Latinc. 1500–1900cestus3‘girdle, belt’
  5. New Latin, derivedc. 1500–1900Cestoda3
  6. Englishtodaycestode3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κεντέω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κεστός
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English cestode

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱent-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κεντέω‘to sting’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκεντέωWiktionary, Ancient Greek κεστός‘to prick, goad, spur on, stab’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκεστόςWiktionary, English cestodekestós‘of Aphrodite’s charmed girdle’
  4. New Latinc. 1500–1900cestusWiktionary, English cestode‘girdle, belt’
  5. New Latin, derivedc. 1500–1900CestodaWiktionary, English cestode
  6. EnglishtodaycestodeWiktionary, English cestode

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- ‘to sting’

hunt, hint, quant, 8 more

through Ancient Greek κεντέω ‘to prick, goad, spur on, stab’

centre, 2 more

Today it means

noun A parasitic flatworm of the class Cestoda; a tapeworm.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cestode”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek κεντέω, Ancient Greek κεστός. 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- / cestode

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