Etymograph

English

rotifer

Rotifer comes from Latin rota ‘wheel’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- ‘to run, roll’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreth₂-1‘to run, roll’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hróth₂-eh₂1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rotā1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErota2‘wheel’
  5. Englishtodayrotifer2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin rota
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English rotifer

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hreth₂-Wiktionary, Latin rota‘to run, roll’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hróth₂-eh₂Wiktionary, Latin rotareconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*rotāWiktionary, Latin rotareconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErotaWiktionary, English rotifer‘wheel’
  5. EnglishtodayrotiferWiktionary, English rotifer

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *Hreth₂- ‘to run, roll’

rash, rotate, 13 more

through Proto-Italic *rotā

rotavirus, 11 more

through Latin rota ‘wheel’

roll, rotation, rodeo, rotary, rota, rueda, rotund, 12 more

Today it means

noun Any of many minute aquatic multicellular organisms, of the phylum Rotifera, that have a ring of cilia resembling a wheel.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “rotifer”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin rota. 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 *Hreth₂- / rotifer

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