Etymograph

English

prism

Prism comes from Late Latin prisma ‘(geometry) prism’, from Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ ‘anything sawn’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1root named by Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρῐ́ω1as πρῐ́ζω
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρίσμᾰ1prísmă‘anything sawn’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprisma1‘(geometry) prism’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1704prism1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English prism
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1704, Isaac Newton, Differ also in Degrees of Refrangibility.”: “[page 13] One of theſe Parts [of a piece…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, English prismroot named by Wiktionary
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρῐ́ωWiktionary, English prismas πρῐ́ζω
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπρίσμᾰWiktionary, English prismprísmă‘anything sawn’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEprismaWiktionary, English prism‘(geometry) prism’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1704prismWiktionary, English prism. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1704, Isaac Newton, Differ also in Degrees of Refrangibility.”: “[page 13] One of theſe Parts [of a piece…”

The story

Learned borrowing from Late Latin prisma (‘(geometry) prism’), from Ancient Greek πρίσμᾰ (prísmă, “anything sawn; sawdust; (Koine, geometry) prism”), from πρῐ́ζω (prĭ́zō) (a variant of πρῑ́ω (prī́ō, “to saw”), further etymology unknown) + -μᾰ (-mă, suffix forming neuter nouns denoting the effect or result of an action, etc.).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *per-

first, before, support, far, per, report, further, fear, opportunity, press, practice, port, private, price, afford, appreciate, pre, ford, primary, pregnant, practical, prior, prime, parade, precious, interpretation, ferry, prize, pirate, fare, porch, pardon, privilege, praise, primitive, afar, interpreter, pragmatic, 158 more

through Ancient Greek πρῐ́ω

pristine, 1 more

Today it means

noun An object having the shape of a geometrical prism (sense 1).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “prism”. 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 *per- / prism

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