Etymograph

English

pleon

Pleon comes from Ancient Greek πλέω ‘to sail’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *plew-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-1‘to sail, flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pléwō1‘to sail’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλέω2pleînas πλεῖν, present participle‘to sail’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλέων2pléōn
  5. Englishtodaypleon2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πλέω
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pleon

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πλέω‘to sail, flow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pléwōWiktionary, Ancient Greek πλέω‘to sail’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλέωWiktionary, English pleonpleînas πλεῖν, present participle‘to sail’
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλέωνWiktionary, English pleonpléōn
  5. EnglishtodaypleonWiktionary, English pleon

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘to sail, flow’

fly, flow, flew, pneumonia, fowl, plough, flue, flay, plover, 24 more

through Ancient Greek πλέω ‘to sail’

plutonium, plutocracy, 2 more

Today it means

noun The abdomen of a crustacean.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pleon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek πλέω. 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 *plew- / pleon

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