cryogenic
Meaningmaking ice-cold
Common meaning: to do with very low temperatures
- cryicy cold; iceLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 452 · scan
- genbirth, descent, race; a typeLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 810 · scan
- icadjective ending: relating to
‘icy cold’ + ‘birth, descent, race’ → cryogenic
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.
- cry — Greek κρύος; κρύσταλλος “icy cold; ice” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- gen — Latin genus, generis “birth, descent, race; a type” (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 κρύος; κρύσταλλος ‘icy cold; ice’ + Latin genus ‘birth, descent, race; a type’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry genus, p. 810 · dictionary scan
Roots
- genus, generis Latin “birth, descent, race; a type”
- κρύος; κρύσταλλος Greek “icy cold; ice”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app