English
poly-
Poly- comes from Ancient Greek πολύς ‘many, much’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-1‘to fill’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*polh₁ús1‘much, many’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπολύς1polús‘many, much’
- Englishtodaypoly-1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English poly-
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₁-Wiktionary, English poly-‘to fill’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*polh₁úsWiktionary, English poly-‘much, many’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπολύςWiktionary, English poly-polús‘many, much’
- Englishtodaypoly-Wiktionary, English poly-
The story
Unrelated to -poly.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- ‘to fill’
people, public, full, complete, plus, popular, plenty, fill, supply, plain, completion, implement, accomplish, supplement, folk, manipulation, comply, complement, ample, plural, amplitude, plethora, amplify, depletion, plenary, replenish, replete, puri, plenum, deplete, plebs, plebeian, volk, fulsome, 75 more
through Proto-Indo-European *polh₁ús ‘much, many’
Today it means
prefix many
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “poly-”. 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 *pleh₁- / poly-