English
phonagnosia
Phonagnosia comes from Ancient Greek ἀγνωσῐ́ᾱ ‘ignorance’, from ἀγνώς ‘obscure, ignoble’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-1‘to recognise’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀγνώς1agnṓs‘obscure, ignoble’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀγνωσῐ́ᾱ1agnōsĭ́ā‘ignorance’
- English1500–presentagnosia1
- Englishtodayphonagnosia1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English phonagnosia
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-Wiktionary, English phonagnosia‘to recognise’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀγνώςWiktionary, English phonagnosiaagnṓs‘obscure, ignoble’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀγνωσῐ́ᾱWiktionary, English phonagnosiaagnōsĭ́ā‘ignorance’
- English1500–presentagnosiaWiktionary, English phonagnosia
- EnglishtodayphonagnosiaWiktionary, English phonagnosia
A compound of phon- + agnosia
Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’
Ancient Greek ἀγνώς ‘obscure, ignoble’
Ancient Greek ἀγνωσῐ́ᾱ ‘ignorance’
English agnosia
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’
can, could, know, note, normal, notice, recognize, glory, narrative, recognition, ken, ignore, keen, con, noble, cognitive, notion, ignorant, norm, notorious, cunning, nobility, quaint, diagnostic, notation, cognition, notoriety, narration, notary, incognito, canny, gnome, prognosis, connoisseur, uncouth, agnostic, kith, canna, recognizance, annotate, 91 more
Today it means
noun An inability to recognise voices
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “phonagnosia”. 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 *ǵneh₃- / phonagnosia