thermostat
Meaningheat stander
Common meaning: a switch that keeps temperature steady
- thermhot, warmLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 363 · scan
- statto stand, be upright or stillLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1762 · scan
‘hot, warm’ + ‘to stand, be upright or still’ → thermostat
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.
- therm — Greek θερμός “hot, warm” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- stat — Latin stō, stetī, statum “to stand, be upright or still” (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: 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 θερμός ‘hot, warm’ + Latin stō ‘to stand, be upright or still’.
Did you know (Greek thermos, "hot",…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry θερμός, p. 363 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Latin stare, "to…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry stō, p. 1762 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry STANZA, p. 591 · dictionary scan
Roots
- stō, stetī, statum Latin “to stand, be upright or still”
- θερμός Greek “hot, warm”
Related words
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