Etymograph

English

rhombus

Rhombus comes from Latin rhombus ‘rhombus (geometry)’, and goes back to Ancient Greek ῥέμβω ‘to turn’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥέμβω1rhémbō‘to turn’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥόμβος2rhómbos‘rhombus, spinning top’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErhombus2‘rhombus (geometry)’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1638rhombus2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ῥόμβος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English rhombus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1638, Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travels: “the greedy Tuberon or Shark arm'd with a double…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥέμβωWiktionary, Ancient Greek ῥόμβοςrhémbō‘to turn’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥόμβοςWiktionary, English rhombusrhómbos‘rhombus, spinning top’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErhombusWiktionary, English rhombus‘rhombus (geometry)’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1638rhombusWiktionary, English rhombus. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1638, Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travels: “the greedy Tuberon or Shark arm'd with a double…”

Linked words

through Latin rhombus ‘rhombus (geometry)’

rumba, 2 more

Today it means

noun A parallelogram having all sides of equal length.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rhombus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ῥόμβος. 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 / Ancient Greek ῥέμβω / rhombus

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