English
semantic
Semantic comes from Ancient Greek σημαντικός ‘significant, giving signs’, from σημαίνω ‘to indicate’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰyéh₂mn̥.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰyéh₂mn̥1reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσῆμᾰ2‘mark, sign, token’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσημαίνω3‘to indicate’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσημαντικός4sēmantikós‘significant, giving signs’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005semantic4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σῆμα, which cites Beekes
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σημαίνω
- 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σημαντικός
- 4 Wiktionary, English semantic
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2005, Friedrich Alexander Bischoff, Yinglin Wang: “Its semantic is polysyllabic, viz. it uses the word…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰyéh₂mn̥Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σῆμα, which cites Beekesreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσῆμᾰWiktionary, Ancient Greek σημαίνω‘mark, sign, token’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσημαίνωWiktionary, Ancient Greek σημαντικός‘to indicate’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσημαντικόςWiktionary, English semanticsēmantikós‘significant, giving signs’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005semanticWiktionary, English semantic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2005, Friedrich Alexander Bischoff, Yinglin Wang: “Its semantic is polysyllabic, viz. it uses the word…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰyéh₂mn̥
Today it means
adj Of or relating to semantics or the meanings of words.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “semantic”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek σῆμα, Ancient Greek σημαίνω, Ancient Greek σημαντικός. 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 *dʰyéh₂mn̥ / semantic