Etymograph

English

iambic

Iambic comes from Late Latin ïambicus ‘writer of iambic verse’, from Ancient Greek ἴαμβος ‘iamb, a metrical foot’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)yeh₁-1‘to throw’uncertain
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*yīyēmi1uncertain
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἵημι2híēmi‘to send, throw’uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἰάπτω3iáptō‘to assail, attack verbally’uncertain
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἴαμβος4‘iamb, a metrical foot’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἰαμβικός4iambikós
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEïambicus4‘writer of iambic verse’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600iambique4
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1908iambic4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἵημι
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἰάπτω
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἴαμβος, which cites OED
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English iambic
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1908, Frank Gilbert Bruner, The Hearing of Primitive Peoples: “[J]ust before the rhythm becomes iambic, there will be…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(H)yeh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἵημι‘to throw’uncertain
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*yīyēmiWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἵημιuncertain
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἵημιWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἰάπτωhíēmi‘to send, throw’uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἰάπτωWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἴαμβος, which cites OEDiáptō‘to assail, attack verbally’uncertain
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἴαμβοςWiktionary, English iambic‘iamb, a metrical foot’
  6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἰαμβικόςWiktionary, English iambiciambikós
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEïambicusWiktionary, English iambic‘writer of iambic verse’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600iambiqueWiktionary, English iambic
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1908iambicWiktionary, English iambic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1908, Frank Gilbert Bruner, The Hearing of Primitive Peoples: “[J]ust before the rhythm becomes iambic, there will be…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(H)yeh₁- ‘to throw’

year, project, hour, disease, object, ease, jet, adjacent, injection, jess, trajectory, inject, conjecture, gist, ejection, jetty, abject, eject, ejaculation, ejaculate, jettison, jut, subjection, interject, joist, jetsam, 42 more

through Ancient Greek ἵημι ‘to send, throw’

catheter, enema, 9 more

Today it means

adj Consisting of iambs (metrical feet with an unstressed–stressed pattern) or characterized by their predominance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “iambic”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ἵημι, Ancient Greek ἰάπτω, Ancient Greek ἴαμβος. 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 *(H)yeh₁- / iambic

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