English
cyathiform
Cyathiform comes from Ancient Greek κύαθος ‘ladle for drawing wine’, from κύαρ ‘eye of a needle’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-1‘to swell’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκύαρ2kúar‘eye of a needle’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκύαθος3kúathos‘ladle for drawing wine’
- Englishtodaycyathiform3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κύαρ
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κύαθος, which cites Beekes
- 3 Wiktionary, English cyathiform
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κύαρ‘to swell’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκύαρWiktionary, Ancient Greek κύαθος, which cites Beekeskúar‘eye of a needle’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκύαθοςWiktionary, English cyathiformkúathos‘ladle for drawing wine’
- EnglishtodaycyathiformWiktionary, English cyathiform
Formed from cyathus ‘cup’ + -form
Ancient Greek κύαθος ‘ladle’
Latin cyathus ‘cyathus, Roman cup, a Roman unit of liquid…’
English cyathus
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’
church, jail, cave, cage, kirk, cavity, hound, excavation, cyst, gaol, cumulus, excavate, cajole, caul, cavil, 40 more
Today it means
adj In the form of a cup, a little widened at the top.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “cyathiform”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek κύαρ, Ancient Greek κύαθος. 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 *ḱewh₁- / cyathiform