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Origin and history of *gwei-

*gwei-

also *gweie-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to live."

It might form all or part of: abiogenesis; aerobic; amphibian; anaerobic; azo-; azoic; azotemia; bio-; biography; biology; biome; bionics; biopsy; biota; biotic; cenobite; Cenozoic; convivial; couch (n.2) "grass;" epizoic; epizoon; epizootic; macrobiotic; Mesozoic; microbe; Protozoa; protozoic; quick; quicken; quicksand; quicksilver; quiver (v.) "to tremble;" revive; survive; symbiosis; viable; viand; viper; vita; vital; vitamin; victuals; viva; vivace; vivacious; vivarium; vivid; vivify; viviparous; vivisection; whiskey; wyvern; zodiac; Zoe; zoetrope; zoic; zoo-; zoolatry; zoology; zoon; zoophilia; zoophobia; zooplankton.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit jivah "alive, living;" Old Persian *jivaka- "alive," Middle Persian zhiwak "alive;" Greek bios "one's life, course or way of living, lifetime," zōē "animal life, organic life;" Old English cwic, cwicu "living, alive;" Latin vivus "living, alive," vita "life;" Old Church Slavonic zivo "to live;" Lithuanian gyvas "living, alive," gyvata "(eternal) life;" Old Irish bethu "life," bith "age;" Welsh byd "world."

Entries linking to *gwei-

abiogenesis(n.)

"spontaneous generation" (of life, without parent organisms), 1870, coined in Modern Latin by T.H. Huxley, from a- (3) + biogenesis.

aerobic(adj.)

"able to live or living only in the presence of oxygen, requiring or using free oxygen from the air," 1875, after French aérobie (n.), coined 1863 by Louis Pasteur in reference to certain bacteria; from Greek aero- "air" (see aero-) + bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live"). Aerobian and aerobious also were used in English. Hence aerobe "type of micro-organism which lives on oxygen from the air." The meaning "pertaining to aerobics is from 1968.

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amphibian
1630s, "having two modes of existence; of doubtful nature," from Greek amphibia, neuter plural of amphibios "living a double life," from amphi "of both kinds" (see amphi-) + bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live"). Formerly used by zoologists to describe any sort of animal a
biography
1680s, "the histories of individual lives, as a branch of literature," probably from Medieval Latin biographia, from later Greek biographia "description of life" (which was not in classical Greek, bios alone being the word there for it), from Greek bios "life" (from PIE root *gwe
biology
"the science of life and living things," 1819, from Greek bios "life, one's life, lifetime" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live;" see bio-) + -logy "study of." The compound was suggested 1802 by German naturalist Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, and introduced as a scientific term that
biogenesis
Huxley from Greek bios "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live") + -genesis "birth, origin, creation."...
fit
1680s, "process of fitting," from fit (v.). From 1823 as "the fitting of one thing to another;" 1831 as "the way something fits."..."paroxysm, sudden attack" (as of anger), 1540s, probably via Middle English fit (n.) "painful, exciting experience" (early 14c.), from Old English f
reciprocal
1570s, "existing on both sides, exclusive or interchangeable" (of duties, etc.), with -al (1) + stem of Latin reciprocus "returning the same way, alternating," from pre-Latin *reco-proco-, from *recus (from re- "back;" see re-, + -cus, adjective formation) + *procus (from pro- "f
anxious
1620s, "greatly troubled by uncertainties," from Latin anxius "solicitous, uneasy, troubled in mind" (also "causing anxiety, troublesome"), from angere, anguere "to choke, squeeze," figuratively "to torment, cause distress" (from PIE root *angh- "tight, painfully constricted, pai
delegate
late 15c., "person appointed and sent by another or others with power to transact business as a representative," from the past-participle adjective (early 15c.), from Old French delegat or directly from Latin delegatus, past participle of delegare "to send as a representative," f
turpitude
"depravity, infamy, inherent baseness or vileness," late 15c., from Old French turpitude (early 15c.), from Latin turpitudinem (nominative turpitudo) "baseness," from turpis "vile, foul, physically ugly, base, unsightly," figuratively "morally ugly, scandalous, shameful," a word
affinity
c. 1300, "relation by marriage" (as opposed to consanguinity), from Old French afinite "relationship, kinship; neighborhood, vicinity" (12c., Modern French affinité), from Latin affinitatem (nominative affinitas) "relationship by marriage; neighborhood," noun of state from affini

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