Etymograph

English

thenar

Thenar comes from Ancient Greek θέναρ ‘the palm of the hand’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰen-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰen-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰénwr̥2‘flat of the hand, palm’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθέναρ3thénar‘the palm of the hand’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1922thenar3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰénwr̥
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θέναρ
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English thenar
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, James Joyce: “the parts of the human anatomy most sensitive to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰen-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *dʰénwr̥reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰénwr̥Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θέναρ‘flat of the hand, palm’reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθέναρWiktionary, English thenarthénar‘the palm of the hand’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1922thenarWiktionary, English thenar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1922, James Joyce: “the parts of the human anatomy most sensitive to…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰen-

ding, dent, dint, 2 more

Today it means

noun The palm of the hand or sole of the foot.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “thenar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *dʰénwr̥, Ancient Greek θέναρ. 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 *dʰen- / thenar

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