English
homopolar
Homopolar comes from Ancient Greek ὁμός ‘same’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘together, one’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-1‘together, one’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*somHós2‘same, alike’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*homós2reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὁμός3homós‘same’
- Englishtodayhomopolar3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *somHós
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὁμός
- 3 Wiktionary, English homopolar
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *somHós‘together, one’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*somHósWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὁμός‘same, alike’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*homósWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὁμόςreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὁμόςWiktionary, English homopolarhomós‘same’
- EnglishtodayhomopolarWiktionary, English homopolar
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘together, one’
some, single, seem, simple, simply, similar, soft, sam, sincerely, simulation, resemble, assemble, simultaneous, resemblance, singular, sincerity, anomaly, simulate, semblance, assimilate, anomalous, synapse, insincere, hyphen, simile, sempre, synchronise, simulacrum, 45 more
through Proto-Indo-European *somHós ‘same, alike’
through Ancient Greek ὁμός ‘same’
Today it means
adj Having symmetrically equal distribution of polarity; characterized by uniform electric or magnetic properties.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “homopolar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *somHós, Ancient Greek ὁμός. 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- / homopolar