Etymograph

English

ochlophobist

Ochlophobist comes from Ancient Greek ὄχλος ‘crowd’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to drive, transport’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-1‘to drive, transport’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*woǵʰlos1uncertain
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄχλος2ókhlos‘crowd’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1867ochlophobist2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄχλος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ochlophobist
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1867, –December, Blackwood's Magazine: “The Easter Trip of Two Ochlophobists.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄχλος‘to drive, transport’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*woǵʰlosWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄχλοςuncertain
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄχλοςWiktionary, English ochlophobistókhlos‘crowd’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1867ochlophobistWiktionary, English ochlophobist. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1867, –December, Blackwood's Magazine: “The Easter Trip of Two Ochlophobists.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to drive, transport’

way, always, via, vehicle, wave, reveal, halfway, vector, weigh, wagon, wee, vein, vogue, veil, wedge, headway, wag, venous, vex, wonky, eunuch, vena, wey, invective, waw, wain, velar, 39 more

Today it means

noun A person with a phobia, or fear, of mob-like crowds, as opposed to simply open spaces like agoraphobia or large crowds as with enochlophobia.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ochlophobist”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ὄχλος. 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 *weǵʰ- / ochlophobist

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