Etymograph

English

diathesis

Diathesis comes from Ancient Greek διάθεσις ‘state, condition’, from διατίθημι ‘to arrange’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to put, place’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to put, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰé-dʰeh₁-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*t(e/i)tʰēmi1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτῐ́θημῐ2‘put, place’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιατίθημι3diatíthēmi‘to arrange’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιάθεσις3diáthesis‘state, condition’
  7. New Latinc. 1500–1900diathesis3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1902diathesis3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημι
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek διατίθημι
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English diathesis
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1902, William James, Lecture I: “Medical materialism seems indeed a good appellation for the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημι‘to put, place’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰé-dʰeh₁-tiWiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημιreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*t(e/i)tʰēmiWiktionary, Ancient Greek τίθημιreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτῐ́θημῐWiktionary, Ancient Greek διατίθημι‘put, place’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιατίθημιWiktionary, English diathesisdiatíthēmi‘to arrange’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδιάθεσιςWiktionary, English diathesisdiáthesis‘state, condition’
  7. New Latinc. 1500–1900diathesisWiktionary, English diathesis
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1902diathesisWiktionary, English diathesis. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1902, William James, Lecture I: “Medical materialism seems indeed a good appellation for the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to put, place’

do, fact, deal, hot, fair, defense, fan, benefit, fashion, mid, feature, defence, custom, sufficient, theme, ethnic, defendant, feast, ethical, doom, deed, synthetic, theology, aesthetic, demi, auditorium, deem, ethic, spade, forfeit, auditor, feral, dis, ethos, medallion, prefect, certify, familial, profanity, fanatic, 120 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰé-dʰeh₁-ti

treasurer, 12 more

through Proto-Hellenic *t(e/i)tʰēmi

treasury, treasure, tick, synthesis, thesaurus, 13 more

through Ancient Greek τῐ́θημῐ ‘put, place’

thematic, thema, 5 more

Today it means

noun A hereditary or constitutional predisposition to a disease or other disorder.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “diathesis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek τίθημι, Ancient Greek διατίθημι. 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 *dʰeh₁- / diathesis

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