Etymograph

English

neurophysiology

Neurophysiology comes from French physiologie ‘natural philosophy, natural science’, from Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-1‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóǵos1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógos1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγος1lógos‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῠσῐολογίᾱ1phŭsĭologíā‘inquiry into natural causes and phenomena’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphysiologia1‘natural philosophy, natural science’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentphysiologie1‘natural philosophy, natural science’
  8. English1500–presentphysiology1
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1981neurophysiology1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English neurophysiology
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology: “This relationship between language and sexuality, oral and genital,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-Wiktionary, English neurophysiology‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóǵosWiktionary, English neurophysiologyreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosWiktionary, English neurophysiologyreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςWiktionary, English neurophysiologylógos‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῠσῐολογίᾱWiktionary, English neurophysiologyphŭsĭologíā‘inquiry into natural causes and phenomena’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphysiologiaWiktionary, English neurophysiology‘natural philosophy, natural science’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentphysiologieWiktionary, English neurophysiology‘natural philosophy, natural science’
  8. English1500–presentphysiologyWiktionary, English neurophysiology
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1981neurophysiologyWiktionary, English neurophysiology. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology: “This relationship between language and sexuality, oral and genital,…”

A compound of neuro- + physiology

Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- ‘to spin (thread), to sew’

Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥ ‘sinew, tendon’

Ancient Greek νεῦρον ‘sinew, tendon, cord’

English neuro-

Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’

…

Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’

Ancient Greek φῠσῐολογίᾱ ‘inquiry into natural causes and phenomena’

Latin physiologia ‘natural philosophy, natural science’

French physiologie

English physiology

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’

election, collection, technology, lesson, select, elite, eligible, collect, elect, elegant, legion, coil, catalogue, negligence, negligible, leach, diligent, negligent, lexicon, lexical, cull, epilogue, astrology, dialectic, cosmology, alexia, legation, lignite, lexis, lignin, gynecologist, ineligibility, dialogic, 150 more

through Proto-Hellenic *lógos

archaeological, pathological, etymology, homologous, astrological, psychopathology, bacteriological, histopathology, 102 more

through Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’

logic, apology, trilogy, analogy, terminology, logos, sociology, pathology, monologue, logistic, pathologist, archaeologist, prologue, eulogy, epistemology, entomology, etiology, apologia, syllogism, bacteriology, bacteriologist, 109 more

through English physiology

pathophysiology

Today it means

noun The branch of physiology that deals with the nervous system.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “neurophysiology”. 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 *leǵ- / neurophysiology

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