English
xylophagous
Xylophagous comes from Ancient Greek ξῠ́λον ‘cut wood, timber’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kes- ‘to scrape’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kes-1‘to scrape’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ksewlo-1uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEξῠ́λον2xŭ́lon‘cut wood, timber’
- Englishearliest quotation 1841xylophagous2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ξύλον, which cites Beekes
- 2 Wiktionary, English xylophagous
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1841, William Chambers, Robert Chambers: “Man has many times suffered from his attempts at…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kes-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ξύλον, which cites Beekes‘to scrape’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ksewlo-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ξύλον, which cites Beekesuncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEξῠ́λονWiktionary, English xylophagousxŭ́lon‘cut wood, timber’
- Englishearliest quotation 1841xylophagousWiktionary, English xylophagous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1841, William Chambers, Robert Chambers: “Man has many times suffered from his attempts at…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kes- ‘to scrape’
through Proto-Indo-European *ksewlo-
Today it means
adj Feeding on wood. (of insects etc.)
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “xylophagous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ξύλον. 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 *kes- / xylophagous