English
subdiffusion
From sub- + diffusion.
Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up; from below’
Proto-Italic *supo ‘under’
Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’
English sub-
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- ‘to pour’
…
Proto-Italic *hundō ‘to pour out’
Latin fundō ‘to pour out, shed’
Latin diffundō ‘to diffuse, scatter’
Latin diffūsiō ‘spreading out, increase in extent or breadth’
English diffusion
Today it means
noun The tendency of particles in a fluid not to diffuse due to random trapping
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “subdiffusion”. 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 / subdiffusion