Etymograph

English

hominization

Hominization comes from Latin homo ‘human being’, from Proto-Italic *hemō ‘man’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ ‘human’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰmṓ1‘human’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hemō1‘man’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhemō1
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhomo2‘human being’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1981hominization2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin homo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English hominization
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology: “The professional way to begin a study of the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰmṓWiktionary, Latin homo‘human’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hemōWiktionary, Latin homo‘man’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhemōWiktionary, Latin homo
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhomoWiktionary, English hominization‘human being’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1981hominizationWiktionary, English hominization. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology: “The professional way to begin a study of the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ ‘human’

goon, 11 more

through Proto-Italic *hemō ‘man’

inhumane, humanely, inhumanity, 6 more

through Latin hemō

humanity, humane, inhuman, humanoid, homophobia, hombre, 9 more

through Latin homo ‘human being’

human, homage, homo, ombre, omi, homunculus, 14 more

Today it means

noun The process of becoming like a human.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hominization”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin homo. 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 *ǵʰmṓ / hominization

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