Etymograph

English

onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia comes from Ancient Greek ὀνομᾰτοποιός ‘coiner of names’, from ποιέω ‘to make’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-1‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoiwéyō1‘to make’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποιέω1poiéō‘to make’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνομᾰτοποιός1onomătopoiós‘coiner of names’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνομᾰτοποιῐ́ᾱ1onomătopoiĭ́ā
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEonomatopoeïa1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1553onomatopoeia1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English onomatopoeia
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1553, Thomas Wilson, Word Making: “A woꝛde makinge called of the Grecians Onomatopeia is…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷey-Wiktionary, English onomatopoeia‘to pay’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoiwéyōWiktionary, English onomatopoeia‘to make’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποιέωWiktionary, English onomatopoeiapoiéō‘to make’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνομᾰτοποιόςWiktionary, English onomatopoeiaonomătopoiós‘coiner of names’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνομᾰτοποιῐ́ᾱWiktionary, English onomatopoeiaonomătopoiĭ́ā
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEonomatopoeïaWiktionary, English onomatopoeia
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1553onomatopoeiaWiktionary, English onomatopoeia. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1553, Thomas Wilson, Word Making: “A woꝛde makinge called of the Grecians Onomatopeia is…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pay’

pain, penalty, punishment, pine, punish, titanium, penal, punitive, impunity, subpoena, whey, 21 more

through Proto-Hellenic *kʷoiwéyō ‘to make’

poetic, 7 more

through Ancient Greek ποιέω ‘to make’

poetry, poem, poet, 8 more

Today it means

noun The property of a word that sounds like what it represents.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “onomatopoeia”. 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 *kʷey- / onomatopoeia

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