English

onomatopoietic

Onomatopoietic comes from Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιία ‘the coining of a word in imitation of a sound’, from ὀνομᾰτοποιός ‘coiner of names’, and ultimately from Hittite ḫannaⁱ- ‘to sue, judge’.

Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-¹transliterated*cuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥²‘name’reconstructed
Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ónomə²‘name’reconstructed
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄνομα³‘name’
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνομᾰτοποιός⁴‘coiner of names’
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνοματοποιία⁵onomatopoiía‘the coining of a word in imitation of a sound’
Englishearliest quotation 1866onomatopoietic⁵

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

¹ Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥
² Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄνομα
³ Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιός
⁴ Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιία
⁵ Wiktionary, English onomatopoietic
Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, The Anthropological Review - Volumes 3-4: “The most natural way of naming an object is…”.

Lineage

Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-1Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥transliterated*cuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥2Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄνομα‘name’reconstructed
Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ónomə2Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄνομα‘name’reconstructed
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄνομα3Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιός‘name’
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνομᾰτοποιός4Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὀνοματοποιία‘coiner of names’
Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀνοματοποιία5Wiktionary, English onomatopoieticonomatopoiía‘the coining of a word in imitation of a sound’
Englishearliest quotation 1866onomatopoietic5Wiktionary, English onomatopoietic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1866, The Anthropological Review - Volumes 3-4: “The most natural way of naming an object is…”