English
sonography
Sonography comes from Ancient Greek γραφή ‘drawing’, from γρᾰ́φω ‘to scratch, cut into’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-1‘to carve’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*grə́pʰō1‘to scratch, cut or carve into’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγρᾰ́φω1grắphō‘to scratch, cut into’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγραφή1graphḗ‘drawing’
- Englishearliest quotation 2015sonography1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English sonography
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Emel Altuncu et al.: “Sonographic assessments including brain and abdominal sonographies and ocular…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-Wiktionary, English sonography‘to carve’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*grə́pʰōWiktionary, English sonography‘to scratch, cut or carve into’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγρᾰ́φωWiktionary, English sonographygrắphō‘to scratch, cut into’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγραφήWiktionary, English sonographygraphḗ‘drawing’
- Englishearliest quotation 2015sonographyWiktionary, English sonography. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Emel Altuncu et al.: “Sonographic assessments including brain and abdominal sonographies and ocular…”
A compound of sono- + -graphy
Proto-Indo-European *swenh₂- ‘to sound’
Proto-Indo-European *swónh₂os
Proto-Italic *swonos
Latin sonus ‘sound’
English sono-
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’
grammar, crawl, crab, carve, crawfish, astrophotography, 81 more
through Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō ‘to scratch, cut or carve into’
photo, cinema, graphite, graphene, epigram, 75 more
through Ancient Greek γρᾰ́φω ‘to scratch, cut into’
photography, graffiti, graft, grimoire, epigraph, 42 more
through Ancient Greek γραφή ‘drawing’
Today it means
noun night writing
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sonography”. 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 *gerbʰ- / sonography