Etymograph

English

derm

Derm comes from Ancient Greek δέρμα ‘skin’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *der- ‘to tear, tear apart’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*der-1‘to tear, tear apart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*dérō1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδέρω2‘to skin, flay’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδέρμα3dérma‘skin’
  5. Englishtodayderm3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δέρω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δέρμα
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English derm

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*der-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δέρω‘to tear, tear apart’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*dérōWiktionary, Ancient Greek δέρωreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδέρωWiktionary, Ancient Greek δέρμα‘to skin, flay’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδέρμαWiktionary, English dermdérma‘skin’
  5. EnglishtodaydermWiktionary, English derm

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *der- ‘to tear, tear apart’

truck, tear, tart, turd, tarn, tirade, 19 more

through Ancient Greek δέρω ‘to skin, flay’

pander, 12 more

Another origin of derm

  1. Afrikaansmodernderm‘intestine’
  2. Englishtodayderm

Today it means

noun Animal skin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “derm”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek δέρω, Ancient Greek δέρμα. 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 *der- / derm

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