Etymograph

English

rhythmic

Rhythmic comes from Ancient Greek ῥυθμικός ‘set to time, rhythmical’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *srew- ‘to flow, stream’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-1‘to flow, stream’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sru-dʰ-mo-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hrutʰmós1reconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥῠθμός1rhŭthmós‘measured motion, rhythm’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥυθμικός1rhuthmikós‘set to time, rhythmical’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2017rhythmic1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English rhythmic
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music: “The Beshtian School, faithful to this concept of song,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*srew-Wiktionary, English rhythmic‘to flow, stream’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sru-dʰ-mo-sWiktionary, English rhythmicreconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hrutʰmósWiktionary, English rhythmicreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥῠθμόςWiktionary, English rhythmicrhŭthmós‘measured motion, rhythm’
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEῥυθμικόςWiktionary, English rhythmicrhuthmikós‘set to time, rhythmical’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2017rhythmicWiktionary, English rhythmic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music: “The Beshtian School, faithful to this concept of song,…”

Formed from rhythm + -ic

Proto-Indo-European *srew- ‘to flow, stream’

Proto-Indo-European *sru-dʰ-mo-s

Proto-Hellenic *hrutʰmós

Ancient Greek ῥῠθμός ‘measured motion, rhythm’

Latin rhythmus

English rhythm

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *srew- ‘to flow, stream’

stream, maelstrom, rheumatism, rheumatology, rheumatic, hemorrhoid, rheology, 42 more

through Proto-Hellenic *hrutʰmós

arrhythmia, 31 more

Today it means

adj Of or relating to rhythm.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rhythmic”. 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 *srew- / rhythmic

Shirt and support for this word