Etymograph

English

hypotonia

Hypotonia comes from New Latin hypotonia, from Ancient Greek τόνος ‘a cord, rope or string’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘stretch’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ten-1‘stretch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tón-os1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tónos1‘rope, cord’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτόνος2tónos‘a cord, rope or string’
  5. New Latinmodernhypotonia2
  6. Englishtodayhypotonia2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τόνος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English hypotonia

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ten-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek τόνος‘stretch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tón-osWiktionary, Ancient Greek τόνοςreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tónosWiktionary, Ancient Greek τόνος‘rope, cord’reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτόνοςWiktionary, English hypotoniatónos‘a cord, rope or string’
  5. New LatinmodernhypotoniaWiktionary, English hypotonia
  6. EnglishtodayhypotoniaWiktionary, English hypotonia

Equivalent to hypo- + -tonia

Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘under, below’

Ancient Greek ὑπό ‘under’

English hypo-

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ten- ‘stretch’

continue, content, entertainment, tight, maintenance, obtain, contain, tennis, retain, tender, continuous, sustain, continent, detention, tenant, retention, tenor, rein, pertinent, pristine, continuum, detain, abstinence, tendon, tenacity, abstain, tenacious, tenet, sustenance, countenance, pertain, tetanus, tenement, incontinence, retinue, tantra, tenable, maintainer, abstention, retentive, 67 more

through Proto-Hellenic *tónos ‘rope, cord’

peritoneum, 9 more

through Ancient Greek τόνος ‘a cord, rope or string’

tune, tone, ton, tonic, 12 more

Today it means

noun A state of reduced pressure of the intraocular fluid.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hypotonia”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek τόνος. 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 *ten- / hypotonia

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