Etymograph

English

gynecologist

Gynecologist comes from Ancient Greek γυνή ‘woman’, from λέγω ‘to put in order, arrange, gather’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-1‘to collect, gather’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*légō1‘to gather’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέγω2‘to put in order, arrange, gather’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγυνή3gunḗ‘woman’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1986gynecologist3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λέγω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek -λόγος
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English gynecologist
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1986, Emil Steinberger, G. Frajese: “Dr. Schirren: The members of this round table keep…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λέγω‘to collect, gather’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*légōWiktionary, Ancient Greek λέγω‘to gather’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέγωWiktionary, Ancient Greek -λόγος‘to put in order, arrange, gather’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγυνήWiktionary, English gynecologistgunḗ‘woman’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1986gynecologistWiktionary, English gynecologist. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1986, Emil Steinberger, G. Frajese: “Dr. Schirren: The members of this round table keep…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect, gather’

election, collection, lesson, elite, select, eligible, elegant, collect, logic, elect, legion, coil, negligence, apology, trilogy, analogy, sociology, leach, diligent, terminology, logos, negligent, negligible, physiology, pathology, cull, monologue, prologue, legation, eulogy, archaeologist, pathologist, lignite, lignin, logistic, etymology, homologous, entomology, epistemology, etiology, 161 more

through Proto-Hellenic *légō ‘to gather’

dialectical, 19 more

through Ancient Greek λέγω ‘to put in order, arrange, gather’

technology, catalogue, lexical, lexicon, epilogue, astrology, dialectic, alexia, cosmology, lexis, dialogic, 20 more

Today it means

noun A physician specializing in diseases of the female reproductive system.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gynecologist”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek λέγω, Ancient Greek -λόγος. 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 *leǵ- / gynecologist

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