asteroide (Portuguese)
Where does "asteroide" come from?
The Portuguese noun 'asteroide' was borrowed from Ancient Greek 'ἀστεροειδής', meaning 'starlike'[1]. This Greek adjective combines 'ἀστήρ', meaning 'star', with the suffix '-ειδής'[2]. Going further back, the word stems from Proto-Hellenic '*astḗr' and Proto-Indo-European '*h₂stḗr'[3][5]. This ancient root is traced back to '*h₂e(h₁)s-', meaning 'to burn, glow', combined with the agentive suffix '*-tḗr', meaning the literal sense was 'glower, shiner'[4].
Open questions
- The Proto-Indo-European origin of '*h₂stḗr' from '*h₂e(h₁)s-' is described as apparent rather than fully certain. [4]
Full etymology tree
- asteroide (Portuguese), 'asteroid (any member of the taxonomic class Asteroidea)'
- borrowed ἀστεροειδής (asteroeidḗs) (Ancient Greek), 'starlike, starry'
- compound ἀστήρ (astḗr) (Ancient Greek), 'a celestial body (star, planet, and other lights in the sky such as meteors).'
- inherited *astḗr (Proto-Hellenic), 'star'
- inherited *h₂stḗr (Proto-Indo-European), 'star'
- inherited *astḗr (Proto-Hellenic), 'star'
- compound -ειδής (-eidḗs) (Ancient Greek), 'Forms adjectives: like, connected to, from the nature of, full of; -id'
- compound ἀστήρ (astḗr) (Ancient Greek), 'a celestial body (star, planet, and other lights in the sky such as meteors).'
- borrowed ἀστεροειδής (asteroeidḗs) (Ancient Greek), 'starlike, starry'
Ancestors
- ἀστεροειδής (Ancient Greek)
Sources
- asteroide (Portuguese) - Wiktionary
- ἀστεροειδής (asteroeidḗs) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- ἀστήρ (astḗr) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
- h₂stḗr (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
- astḗr (Proto-Hellenic) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris