English
thymus
Thymus comes from New Latin thymus ‘a type of wart’, from Ancient Greek θύμος ‘warty excrescence, thymus gland’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘to smoke, raise dust’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-1‘to smoke, raise dust’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθύμος2thúmos‘warty excrescence, thymus gland’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900thymus2‘a type of wart’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019thymus2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θύμος
- 2 Wiktionary, English thymus
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants: “For a very long time the role of the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek θύμος‘to smoke, raise dust’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEθύμοςWiktionary, English thymusthúmos‘warty excrescence, thymus gland’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900thymusWiktionary, English thymus‘a type of wart’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019thymusWiktionary, English thymus. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants: “For a very long time the role of the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘to smoke, raise dust’
down, steam, dye, funk, dew, dun, dune, duvet, dag, fume, fumigation, typhon, obfuscate, 27 more
Today it means
noun —
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “thymus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek θύμος. 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 *dʰewh₂- / thymus