Etymograph

English

ctene

Ctene comes from Ancient Greek κτείς ‘comb’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘to pluck’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-1‘to pluck’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pḱtén-s1‘comb’reconstructedderivative of *peḱ-
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκτείς2kteís‘comb’
  4. Englishtodayctene2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κτείς
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ctene

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κτείς‘to pluck’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pḱtén-sWiktionary, Ancient Greek κτείς‘comb’reconstructedderivative of *peḱ-
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκτείςWiktionary, English ctenekteís‘comb’
  4. EnglishtodaycteneWiktionary, English ctene

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘to pluck’

fight, fellow, fee, peculiar, fax, feud, cynical, hound, fawn, poodle, cynic, feu, pec, fain, pecuniary, chenille, 25 more

Today it means

noun A band of fused cilia on the bodies of ctenophores, used for locomotion.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ctene”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek κτείς. 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 *peḱ- / ctene

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