Etymograph

English

coreopsis

Coreopsis comes from Ancient Greek κόρις ‘bedbug’, from ὄψις ‘aspect, appearance’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-1‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄψ2‘eye’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄψις3ópsis‘aspect, appearance’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκόρις3kóris‘bedbug’
  5. Englishtodaycoreopsis3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄψ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄψις
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English coreopsis

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄψ‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄψWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄψις‘eye’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄψιςWiktionary, English coreopsisópsis‘aspect, appearance’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκόριςWiktionary, English coreopsiskóris‘bedbug’
  5. EnglishtodaycoreopsisWiktionary, English coreopsis

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’

eye, anthropology, oculus, ocular, ogle, inoculation, monocle, awk, inoculate, doily, anthropoid, 37 more

through Ancient Greek ὄψις ‘aspect, appearance’

optics, synoptic, 6 more

Today it means

noun Any of several composite herbs, of genus Coreopsis, typically with bright yellow flowers.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “coreopsis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ὄψ, Ancient Greek ὄψις. 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 *h₃ekʷ- / coreopsis

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