English
ponophobia
Ponophobia comes from Ancient Greek πόνος ‘fatigue’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁- ‘to weave, to twist’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)penh₁-1‘to weave, to twist’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπόνος2pónos‘fatigue’
- Englishearliest quotation 1975ponophobia2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πόνος, which cites Beekes
- 2 Wiktionary, English ponophobia
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1975, Spring, The Exchange: What's Your Phobia?: “In the meantime, since your editor suffers slightly from…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)penh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πόνος, which cites Beekes‘to weave, to twist’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπόνοςWiktionary, English ponophobiapónos‘fatigue’
- Englishearliest quotation 1975ponophobiaWiktionary, English ponophobia. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1975, Spring, The Exchange: What's Your Phobia?: “In the meantime, since your editor suffers slightly from…”
Formed from phobia
Proto-Indo-European *bʰegʷ- ‘to run, flee’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰógʷos
Proto-Hellenic *pʰógʷos
Ancient Greek φόβος ‘fear’
English phobia
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁- ‘to weave, to twist’
Today it means
noun A fear of overwork.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “ponophobia”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek πόνος. 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 *(s)penh₁- / ponophobia