Etymograph

English

iniencephaly

Iniencephaly comes from Ancient Greek ἰνίον ‘occipital bone’, from ῑ̓́ς ‘muscle of the body’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase, pursue’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to chase, pursue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHs1‘force, strength’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*wīs1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῑ̓́ς2‘muscle of the body’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἰνίον3iníon‘occipital bone’
  6. Englishtodayiniencephaly3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἴς
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἰνίον
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English iniencephaly

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἴς‘to chase, pursue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHsWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἴς‘force, strength’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*wīsWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἴςreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῑ̓́ςWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἰνίον‘muscle of the body’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἰνίονWiktionary, English iniencephalyiníon‘occipital bone’
  6. EnglishtodayiniencephalyWiktionary, English iniencephaly

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase, pursue’

previous, obvious, virtual, inevitable, virtue, voyage, convey, trivial, trivia, deviation, envoy, virtuous, deviant, virtuoso, wer, viaduct, ochre, venison, virile, virility, virago, trivium, obviate, 50 more

through Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs ‘force, strength’

violent, violation, violate, vis, vengeance, avenge, vindication, vim, violator, inviolable, 16 more

Today it means

noun A cephalic disorder characterized by spina bifida and spinal retroflexion

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “iniencephaly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ἴς, Ancient Greek ἰνίον. 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 *weyh₁- / iniencephaly

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