English
lysimeter
Lysimeter comes from Ancient Greek λύσις ‘loosening’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- ‘to cut off, separate, free’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-1‘to cut off, separate, free’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλύω2‘loosen’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλύσις3lúsis‘loosening’
- Englishtodaylysimeter3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λύω, which cites Beekes
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λύσις
- 3 Wiktionary, English lysimeter
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λύω, which cites Beekes‘to cut off, separate, free’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλύωWiktionary, Ancient Greek λύσις‘loosen’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλύσιςWiktionary, English lysimeterlúsis‘loosening’
- EnglishtodaylysimeterWiktionary, English lysimeter
Formed from -meter
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- ‘to cut off, separate, free’
so, lose, solution, solve, lease, sol, resolute, insoluble, loess, 28 more
through Ancient Greek λύω ‘loosen’
analysis, analyst, palsy, paralysis, dialysis, paralyze, paralytic, lysis, 14 more
Today it means
noun An instrument that measures the percolation of water through soil
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “lysimeter”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek λύω, Ancient Greek λύσις. 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 *lewh₁- / lysimeter