English
grammagram
Grammagram comes from Ancient Greek γράμμα ‘written character, letter, that which is drawn’, from γρᾰ́φω ‘to write’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-1‘to carve’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*grə́pʰō1‘to scratch, cut or carve into’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγρᾰ́φω2‘to write’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγράμμα3grámma‘written character, letter, that which is drawn’
- Englishtodaygrammagram3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek γράφω
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek γράμμα
- 3 Wiktionary, English grammagram
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek γράφω‘to carve’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*grə́pʰōWiktionary, Ancient Greek γράφω‘to scratch, cut or carve into’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγρᾰ́φωWiktionary, Ancient Greek γράμμα‘to write’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγράμμαWiktionary, English grammagramgrámma‘written character, letter, that which is drawn’
- EnglishtodaygrammagramWiktionary, English grammagram
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’
crawl, crab, carve, crawfish, astrophotography, grammarian, 79 more
through Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō ‘to scratch, cut or carve into’
photo, cinema, graphic, graphite, graphene, epigram, 73 more
through Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω ‘to write’
photography, graffiti, graft, demography, ultrasonography, epigraph, sonography, 40 more
through Ancient Greek γράμμα ‘written character, letter, that which is drawn’
Today it means
noun —
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “grammagram”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek γράφω, Ancient Greek γράμμα. 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 *gerbʰ- / grammagram