English
prooemion
Prooemion comes from Ancient Greek προοίμιον ‘opening, prelude, preamble, preface,…’, from οἶμος ‘way, road, path’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase, pursue’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to chase, pursue’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEοἶμος2‘way, road, path’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπροοίμιον3prooímion‘opening, prelude, preamble, preface, introduction’
- Englishtodayprooemion3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek οἶμος
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek προοίμιον
- 3 Wiktionary, English prooemion
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek οἶμος‘to chase, pursue’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEοἶμοςWiktionary, Ancient Greek προοίμιον‘way, road, path’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπροοίμιονWiktionary, English prooemionprooímion‘opening, prelude, preamble, preface, introduction’
- EnglishtodayprooemionWiktionary, English prooemion
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase, pursue’
previous, obvious, virtual, violent, inevitable, virtue, voyage, violation, vengeance, trivial, convey, violate, envoy, trivia, vis, avenge, virtuous, deviation, deviant, virtuoso, wer, viaduct, venison, ochre, vim, vindication, virile, virility, violator, inviolable, virago, trivium, obviate, 50 more
Today it means
noun A preface, an introduction.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “prooemion”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek οἶμος, Ancient Greek προοίμιον. 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 *weyh₁- / prooemion