Etymograph

English

exorheic

Exorheic comes from Ancient Greek ῥέω ‘I flow, stream’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *srew-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-1‘to flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sréweti1‘to flow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hréwō1‘to flow, stream’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥέω2rhéō‘I flow, stream’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1998exorheic2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ῥέω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English exorheic
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1998, Brian Moss, Ecology of Fresh Waters: Man and Medium: “Most lakes are exorheic, with some flow-through and no…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ῥέω‘to flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sréwetiWiktionary, Ancient Greek ῥέω‘to flow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hréwōWiktionary, Ancient Greek ῥέω‘to flow, stream’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥέωWiktionary, English exorheicrhéō‘I flow, stream’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1998exorheicWiktionary, English exorheic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1998, Brian Moss, Ecology of Fresh Waters: Man and Medium: “Most lakes are exorheic, with some flow-through and no…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *srew- ‘to flow’

stream, rhythm, maelstrom, rheumatism, rheumatology, 42 more

through Ancient Greek ῥέω ‘I flow, stream’

rheumatic, hemorrhoid, rheology, 7 more

Today it means

adj Externally drained; having one or more outlets.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “exorheic”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ῥέω. 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 *srew- / exorheic

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