Etymograph

English

peribolos

Peribolos comes from Ancient Greek περίβολος ‘going round, compassing, encircling’, from βάλλω ‘to throw, cast, hurl’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-1‘to hit by throwing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷl̥-ne-h₁-1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəlnō1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβάλλω2‘to throw, cast, hurl’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπερίβολος3períbolos‘going round, compassing, encircling’
  6. Englishtodayperibolos3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek βάλλω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek περίβολος
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English peribolos

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷelH-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek βάλλω‘to hit by throwing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷl̥-ne-h₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek βάλλωreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gʷəlnōWiktionary, Ancient Greek βάλλωreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβάλλωWiktionary, Ancient Greek περίβολος‘to throw, cast, hurl’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπερίβολοςWiktionary, English peribolosperíbolos‘going round, compassing, encircling’
  6. EnglishtodayperibolosWiktionary, English peribolos

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- ‘to hit by throwing’

ball, quail, quill, quell, obelisk, pul, 63 more

through Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō

symbolic, ballistic, ballista, symbolist, 34 more

through Ancient Greek βάλλω ‘to throw, cast, hurl’

problem, devil, symbol, emblem, metabolic, parable, hyperbolic, parabolic, embolism, anabolic, metabolize, hyperbola, 33 more

Today it means

noun An enclosed court, especially one surrounding a temple.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “peribolos”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek βάλλω, Ancient Greek περίβολος. 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 *gʷelH- / peribolos

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