English
diatessaron
Diatessaron comes from Latin diatessarōn ‘a fourth’, from Ancient Greek διά ‘through, across’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ‘two’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwóh₁1‘two’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwís2‘twice, in two’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιά3diá‘through, across’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiatessarōn3‘a fourth’
- Englishtodaydiatessaron3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dwís
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek διά
- 3 Wiktionary, English diatessaron
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwóh₁Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dwís‘two’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dwísWiktionary, Ancient Greek διά‘twice, in two’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιάWiktionary, English diatessarondiá‘through, across’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdiatessarōnWiktionary, English diatessaron‘a fourth’
- EnglishtodaydiatessaronWiktionary, English diatessaron
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ‘two’
two, doubt, vice, twin, dual, duo, vicious, dubious, duet, twain, twig, deuce, disparate, bes, 20 more
through Proto-Indo-European *dwís ‘twice, in two’
defeat, binary, diplomacy, bis, biceps, binocular, betwixt, 11 more
Today it means
noun The interval of a fourth or the harmonic ratio 4:3.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “diatessaron”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *dwís, Ancient Greek διά. 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 *dwóh₁ / diatessaron