Etymograph

English

pellucid

Pellucid comes from Latin pellūcidus ‘transparent, pellucid’, from lūcidus ‘clear’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘bright’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-1‘bright’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lukéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*l(o)ukēō1uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūceō1‘to shine’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūcidus1‘clear’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellūcidus1‘transparent, pellucid’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1689pellucid1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pellucid
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1689, Of Our Complex Ideas of Substances: “Blood to the naked Eye appears all red; but…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-Wiktionary, English pellucid‘bright’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lukéh₁yetiWiktionary, English pellucidreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*l(o)ukēōWiktionary, English pelluciduncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūceōWiktionary, English pellucid‘to shine’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElūcidusWiktionary, English pellucid‘clear’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellūcidusWiktionary, English pellucid‘transparent, pellucid’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1689pellucidWiktionary, English pellucid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1689, Of Our Complex Ideas of Substances: “Blood to the naked Eye appears all red; but…”

The story

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin pellūcidus, perlucidus (‘transparent, pellucid; very bright; very understandable’), from per- (prefix meaning ‘through; throughout; completely, thoroughly’) + lūcidus (‘clear; full of light, bright, shining; (figuratively) easily understood, clear, lucid’) (from lūceō (‘to shine; to become visible, show through; (figuratively) to be apparent, conspicuous, or evident’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (‘bright; to see; to shine’)) + -idus (suffix meaning ‘tending to’ forming adjectives)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘bright’

light, low, link, los, ounce, lucy, lea, lunar, luna, illumination, luminous, lux, lynx, illuminate, lumen, luminosity, lumia, luce, loach, lum, luminescent, lune, luminary, leucine, luminal, 72 more

through Latin lūceō ‘to shine’

translucent, lucent, 9 more

through Latin lūcidus ‘clear’

lucidity, 2 more

Today it means

adj Allowing the passage of light; translucent or transparent.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pellucid”. 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 *lewk- / pellucid

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