Etymograph

English

dermatitis

Dermatitis 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. New Latinc. 1500–1900dermatītis4
  6. Englishtodaydermatitis4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δέρω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δέρμα
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin dermatitis
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English dermatitis

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, Latin dermatitisdérma‘skin’
  5. New Latinc. 1500–1900dermatītisWiktionary, English dermatitis
  6. EnglishtodaydermatitisWiktionary, English dermatitis

Linked words

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

truck, tear, tart, turd, tarn, tirade, 17 more

through Ancient Greek δέρω ‘to skin, flay’

pander, 10 more

through Ancient Greek δέρμα ‘skin’

dermatology, dermis, 5 more

Today it means

noun Inflammation of the skin.

Sources

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

Shirt and support for this word