Wikipedia (English)

Where does "Wikipedia" come from?

The name Wikipedia was coined in 2001 by Larry Sanger as a blend of 'wiki' and 'encyclopedia'[1]. The first element derives from Hawaiian 'wikiwiki', meaning 'quick', ultimately tracing back to Proto-Polynesian '*witi'[1][3][4]. The second element enters through New Latin 'encyclopaedia'[1][2], which condensed the Ancient Greek phrase 'enkúklios paideíā'[1][2], literally signifying an all-round or circular education[6]. That phrase was built from 'enkúklios' ('circular')[2], stemming from Proto-Indo-European '*kʷel-' ('to turn')[8], and 'paideíā' ('education' or 'childrearing')[2], rooted in Proto-Indo-European '*peh₂w-' ('small' or 'little')[12]. Together, the components create a modern term meaning a fast, collaborative reference work.

Open questions

The reconstructed Proto-Polynesian ancestral form '*witi' is only attested through evidence in Central-Eastern Polynesian languages. [9]

Full etymology tree

Wikipedia (English), 'A free-content, multilingual, online encyclopedia and wiki run by the Wikimedia Foundation.'
- blend wiki (English), 'A collaborative website which can be directly edited merely by using a web browser, often by anyone who has access to it.'
  - abbreviation WikiWikiWeb (English)
    - compound wikiwiki (Hawaiian), 'to be quick, to be speedy'
      - derived wiki (Hawaiian), 'to hasten, to speed up'
        derived *witi (Proto-Polynesian)
    - compound web (English), 'The silken structure which a spider builds using silk secreted from the spinnerets at the caudal tip of its abdomen; a spiderweb.'
- blend encyclopedia (English), 'A comprehensive reference work (often spanning several printed volumes) with articles (usually arranged in alphabetical order, or sometimes arranged by category) on a range of subjects, sometimes general, sometimes limited to a particular field.'
  - borrowed encyclopēdīa (New Latin)
    - borrowed ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία (enkúklios paideía) (Ancient Greek), 'general education'
      - compound ἐγκύκλιος (enkúklios) (Ancient Greek), 'circular'
        prefix ἐν- (en-) (Ancient Greek), 'in-'
        derived *h₁én (Proto-Indo-European), 'in'
        affix κύκλος (kúklos) (Ancient Greek), 'circle, ring'
        inherited *kʷókʷlos (Proto-Hellenic)
        derived *kʷékʷlos (Proto-Indo-European), 'wheel'
        derived *kʷelh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to turn (end-over-end)'
        suffix -ιος (-ios) (Ancient Greek), 'Suffix added to nouns or adjectives, forming adjectives: pertaining to, belonging to ("of").'
        derived *-yós (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates adjectives from noun stems.'
      - compound παιδεία (paideía) (Ancient Greek), 'upbringing'
        affix παιδεύω (paideúō) (Ancient Greek), 'to raise, bring up a child'
        affix παῖς (paîs) (Ancient Greek), 'child'
        inherited *pā́wits (Proto-Hellenic), 'child'
        derived *péh₂wids (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *peh₂w- (Proto-Indo-European), 'few, little'
        suffix -εύω (-eúō) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to the stems of agent or other nouns in -εύς (-eús) to form a denominative verb of condition or activity: meaning "be x" or "do what x typically does"'
        suffix -ία (-ía) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to stems of adjectives, rarely to the stems of verbs, and even more rarely to the stems of nouns, to form feminine abstract nouns'
        derived *-éh₂ (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates collective nouns and mass nouns, corresponding to thematic formations with accent on the suffix.'

Ancestors

wiki (English)
encyclopedia (English)

Descendants and derived words

wikiality (English)
Wikipedialike (English)
Wikipedian (English)
Wikipedian (English)
Wikipediaworthy (English)
Wikipedic (English)
Wokepedia (English)

Sources

Updated October 2026

More words starting with W

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris