microgravity
Meaningsmall heaviness
Common meaning: near-weightlessness, as felt in orbit
- microlittle, smallLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 513 (approximate) · scan
- gravheavy, weightyLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 828 · scan
- itynoun ending: being so, the quality of
‘little, small’ + ‘heavy, weighty’ → microgravity
Journey through time
Hybrid: Greek + Latin Its parts come from different languages; our sources do not record where they were first put together.
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- micro — Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós) “little, small” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- grav — Latin gravis, -e “heavy, weighty” (dictionary form; path not traced)
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: not available. Respelling: generated.
- US IPA: not available. Respelling: generated.
Origin: Built on Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós) ‘little, small’ + Latin gravis ‘heavy, weighty’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry μικρός (mikrós), p. 513 · dictionary scan
Roots
- gravis, -e Latin “heavy, weighty”
- μικρός (mikrós) Ancient Greek “little, small”
Related words
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