Etymograph

English

chloasma

Chloasma comes from Ancient Greek χλωρός ‘pale green’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-1‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰl̥h₃rós1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʰlōrós1‘greenish-yellow, pale green’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχλωρός2khlōrós‘pale green’
  5. Englishtodaychloasma2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek χλωρός
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English chloasma

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek χλωρός‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰl̥h₃rósWiktionary, Ancient Greek χλωρόςreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʰlōrósWiktionary, Ancient Greek χλωρός‘greenish-yellow, pale green’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχλωρόςWiktionary, English chloasmakhlōrós‘pale green’
  5. EnglishtodaychloasmaWiktionary, English chloasma

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’

gold, fell, yellow, gall, cholera, gullible, yolk, felon, glib, gild, choline, zloty, 26 more

through Ancient Greek χλωρός ‘pale green’

chlorine, chlorella, 4 more

Today it means

noun melasma; a cutaneous condition with yellow or yellowish-brown pigmented spot

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chloasma”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek χλωρός. 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 *ǵʰelh₃- / chloasma

Shirt and support for this word