Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: k̑ent- 'to stab, stick'
Semantic Field(s): to Press, Knife (tool)
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Old Irish: | cinteir | n | spur | RPN |
| Breton: | kentr | n | spur | RPN |
| Cornish: | kenter | n | spike | RPN |
| Welsh: | cethr | n | nail, tip | RPN |
| English | ||||
| Middle English: | centre | n | center | W7 |
| English: | amniocentesis | n | amniotic fluid extraction via centesis | AHD |
| center | n | point equidistant from exterior points of circle/sphere/etc. | AHD/W7 | |
| centesis | n | puncture/perforation of body cavity using hollow needle | LRC | |
| centrobaric | adj | re: center of gravity | AHD | |
| cestus | n | woman's belt | AHD/W7 | |
| dicentra | n | fumitory family of herbs | AHD/W7 | |
| eccentric | adj | not having same center | AHD/W7 | |
| British English: | centre | n | center | LRC |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old High German: | hantag | adj | sharp, pointed | RPN |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | centrum | n.neut | center of circle | W7 |
| cestus | n.masc | gauntlet for boxers | W7 | |
| contus | n | punt pole; long spear/pike | RPN | |
| Medieval Latin: | eccentricus | adj | eccentric | W7 |
| New Latin: | Dicentra | n.fem | (genus name) | W7 |
| Middle French: | centre | n.masc | center | W7 |
| Baltic | ||||
| Latvian: | sīts | n | hunting spear | W7 |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | ekkentros | adj | outside the center | W7 |
| κεντέω | vb | to prick, goad, sting | RPN | |
| κέντρον | n | sharp point, center of circle | RPN | |
| kestos | n.masc | girdle | W7 | |
| kestos | vb.ptc | stitched | W7 | |
| κοντός | n | pole | RPN | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| ptc | = | participle |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
