onomatopoeia (English)
Where does "onomatopoeia" come from?
The word onomatopoeia is derived from the Ancient Greek term ὀνοματοποιία, which literally means 'the making of a name.' Combining the roots for 'name' and 'to produce,' the Greeks used this term to describe the coining of words that imitate sounds. It eventually entered English by way of Latin, where it retained its original meaning of naming things through mimicry.
Full etymology tree
- onomatopoeia (English), 'The property of a word that sounds like what it represents.'
- borrowed onomatopoeïa (Latin), 'alternative form of onomatopoeia'
- inherited ὀνοματοποιία (onomatopoiía) (Ancient Greek), 'Onomatopoeia; the creation of a word, especially the creation of a word in imitation of a sound.'
- compound ὀνοματοποιός (onomătopoiós) (Ancient Greek)
- compound ὄνομα (ónoma) (Ancient Greek), 'name'
- inherited *ónomə (Proto-Hellenic), 'name'
- inherited *h₁nómn̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'name'
- inherited *ónomə (Proto-Hellenic), 'name'
- compound ποιέω (poiéō) (Ancient Greek), 'to make'
- inherited *kʷoiwéyō (Proto-Hellenic), 'to make'
- derived *ποιϝός (*poiwós) (Ancient Greek)
- inherited *kʷoywós (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *kʷey- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to pay'
- inherited *kʷoywós (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *ποιϝός (*poiwós) (Ancient Greek)
- inherited *kʷoiwéyō (Proto-Hellenic), 'to make'
- compound ὄνομα (ónoma) (Ancient Greek), 'name'
- suffix -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) (Ancient Greek), 'Primitive suffix added to the stems of adjectives in -ύς (-ús) and some nouns to form feminine gender'
- compound ὀνοματοποιός (onomătopoiós) (Ancient Greek)
- inherited ὀνοματοποιία (onomatopoiía) (Ancient Greek), 'Onomatopoeia; the creation of a word, especially the creation of a word in imitation of a sound.'
- borrowed onomatopoeïa (Latin), 'alternative form of onomatopoeia'
Direct ancestors
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris