heterogeneous
Meaningof unlike kinds
Common meaning: made of parts that differ from each other
- heteroother of a pair; unlikeLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 591 · scan
- genbirth, descent, race; a typeLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 810 · scan
- eousadjective ending: made of or like
‘other of a pair’ + ‘birth, descent, race’ → heterogeneous
Journey through time
Hybrid: Greek + Latin Its parts come from different languages; our sources do not record where they were first put together.
Only the hetero half is traced; the path of gen is not in our sources yet.
- hetero — Greek ἕτερος “other of a pair; unlike” (path traced)
- gen — Latin genus, generis “birth, descent, race; a type” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- Greekἕτερος‘other of a pair’
- Englishheterogeneous‘made of parts that differ from each other’ · today
hetero also in: heterosexualheterogeneouslyheterosexuality
gen also in: genusgenuinecryogeniccarcinogendegenerate
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek ἕτερος ‘other of a pair; unlike’ + Latin genus ‘birth, descent, race; a type’.
Did you know (Latin genus, "birth,…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry genus, p. 810 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Greek heteros, the…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry ἕτερος, p. 591 · dictionary scan
Roots
- genus, generis Latin “birth, descent, race; a type”
- ἕτερος Greek “other of a pair; unlike”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app