Etymograph

English

physiology

Physiology comes from Latin physiologia ‘natural philosophy, natural science’, from Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-1‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóǵos1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógos1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγος1lógos‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῠσῐολογίᾱ1phŭsĭologíā‘inquiry into natural causes and phenomena’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphysiologia1‘natural philosophy, natural science’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentphysiologie1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2023physiology1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English physiology
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Isabel Waidner, Corey Fah Does Social Mobility: “So he clung to the sides of the vertical…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-Wiktionary, English physiology‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to speak by carefully selecting one's words’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lóǵosWiktionary, English physiologyreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosWiktionary, English physiologyreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςWiktionary, English physiologylógos‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech, story, debate, utterance, argument’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφῠσῐολογίᾱWiktionary, English physiologyphŭsĭologíā‘inquiry into natural causes and phenomena’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphysiologiaWiktionary, English physiology‘natural philosophy, natural science’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentphysiologieWiktionary, English physiology
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2023physiologyWiktionary, English physiology. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Isabel Waidner, Corey Fah Does Social Mobility: “So he clung to the sides of the vertical…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning…’

election, collection, technology, lesson, select, elite, eligible, collect, elect, elegant, coil, legion, negligence, catalogue, negligible, negligent, leach, diligent, lexicon, lexical, cull, epilogue, astrology, dialectic, alexia, lignite, lexis, legation, lignin, cosmology, gynecologist, ineligibility, dialogic, 151 more

through Proto-Hellenic *lógos

archaeological, pathological, astrological, homologous, etymology, psychopathology, histopathology, bacteriological, 103 more

through Ancient Greek λόγος ‘that which is said: word, sentence, speech,…’

logic, apology, trilogy, analogy, terminology, logos, sociology, pathology, monologue, logistic, prologue, archaeologist, pathologist, eulogy, epistemology, entomology, apologia, etiology, syllogism, bacteriology, bacteriologist, 110 more

Today it means

noun A branch of biology that deals with the functions and activities of life or of living matter (as organs, tissues, or cells) and of the physical and chemical phenomena involved.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “physiology”. 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 *leǵ- / physiology

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