Etymograph

English

icasm

Icasm comes from Ancient Greek εἴκασμα ‘likeness’, and goes back to εἰκάζω.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεἰκάζω1‘to liken, compare’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεἴκασμα1eíkasma‘likeness’
  3. Englishtodayicasm1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English icasm

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεἰκάζωWiktionary, English icasm‘to liken, compare’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEεἴκασμαWiktionary, English icasmeíkasma‘likeness’
  3. EnglishtodayicasmWiktionary, English icasm

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to become equal’

victory, province, victim, convince, weakness, witch, conviction, victor, iconic, icon, wicked, wo, invincible, convict, wight, eviction, weakly, vicar, evict, vanquish, wile, ancona, waw, 31 more

Today it means

noun imitative or figurative expression

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “icasm”. 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 / Ancient Greek εἰκάζω / icasm

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