English
hamamelis
Hamamelis comes from Ancient Greek ἁμαμηλίς ‘medlar’, from ᾰ̔́μᾰ ‘marking the simultaneous occurrence of two…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one, whole’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-1‘one, whole’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̔́μᾰ1hắmă‘marking the simultaneous occurrence of two events: simultaneously, at once’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμῆλον1mêlon
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἁμαμηλίς2hamamēlís‘medlar’
- Englishtodayhamamelis2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἁμαμηλίς
- 2 Wiktionary, English hamamelis
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἁμαμηλίς‘one, whole’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̔́μᾰWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἁμαμηλίςhắmă‘marking the simultaneous occurrence of two events: simultaneously, at once’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEμῆλονWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἁμαμηλίςmêlon
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἁμαμηλίςWiktionary, English hamamelishamamēlís‘medlar’
- EnglishtodayhamamelisWiktionary, English hamamelis
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one, whole’
some, single, same, similar, seem, simple, simply, soft, sam, simulation, singular, resemble, sincerely, assemble, resemblance, simultaneous, simulate, sincerity, anomaly, semblance, assimilate, anomalous, synapse, homology, homeopathic, insincere, hyphen, simile, simulacrum, sempre, homolog, synchronise, 45 more
Today it means
noun Any of the flowering plant genus Hamamelis, the witch hazels.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “hamamelis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ἁμαμηλίς. 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 *sem- / hamamelis