English
eikonal
Eikonal comes from Ancient Greek εἰκών ‘image’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to resemble’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to resemble’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεἰκών2eikṓn‘image’
- Englishtodayeikonal2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek εἰκών
- 2 Wiktionary, English eikonal
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek εἰκών‘to resemble’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεἰκώνWiktionary, English eikonaleikṓn‘image’
- EnglishtodayeikonalWiktionary, English eikonal
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to resemble’
victory, victim, province, weakness, victor, witch, convince, wicked, conviction, iconic, wo, invincible, vicar, convict, wight, eviction, weakly, evict, vanquish, wile, waw, 31 more
through Ancient Greek εἰκών ‘image’
Today it means
adj Describing the properties of a class of partial differential equation encountered in descriptions of wave propagation.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “eikonal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek εἰκών. 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 *weyk- / eikonal