Advertisement

Origin and history of aerobic

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.

also from 1875

Entries linking to aerobic

aerobics(n.)

method of exercise and a fad in early 1980s, American English, coined 1968 by U.S. physician Kenneth H. Cooper (b. 1931), from aerobic (also see -ics) on the notion of activities which require modest oxygen intake and thus can be maintained.

aero-

word-forming element meaning "air, atmosphere; gases," in 20c. use with reference to aircraft or aviation, from Greek aēr (genitive aeros) "air, lower atmosphere" (see air (n.1)).

*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."

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    fate
    late 14c., "one's lot or destiny; predetermined course of life;" also "one's guiding spirit," from Old French fate and directly from Latin fata (source also of Spanish hado, Portuguese fado, Italian fato), neuter plural of fatum "prophetic declaration of what must be, oracle, pre
    aberration
    1590s, "a wandering, act of straying," from Latin aberrationem (nominative aberratio) "a wandering," noun of action from past-participle stem of aberrare "to wander out of the way, lose the way, go astray," literally and figuratively, from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + errare "
    gravity
    c. 1500, "weight, dignity, seriousness, solemnity of deportment or character, importance," from Old French gravité "seriousness, thoughtfulness" (13c.) and directly from Latin gravitatem (nominative gravitas) "weight, heaviness, pressure," from gravis "heavy" (from PIE root *gwer
    concrete
    late 14c., "actual, solid; particular, individual; denoting a substance," from Latin concretus "condensed, hardened, stiff, curdled, congealed, clotted," figuratively "thick; dim," literally "grown together;" past participle of concrescere "to grow together," from assimilated for
    luck
    c. 1500, "fortune good or bad, what happens to one by chance (conceived as being favorable or not); good luck, quality of having a tendency to receive desired or beneficial outcomes," not found in Old English, probably from early Middle Dutch luc, shortening of gheluc "happiness,
    bravo
    "well done!," 1761, from Italian bravo, literally "brave" (see brave (adj.)). Earlier in English it was a noun meaning "desperado, hired killer" (1590s). The superlative form is bravissimo. It is held by some philologists that as "Bravo!" is an exclamation its form should not ch
    addiction
    c. 1600, "tendency, inclination, penchant" (a less severe sense now obsolete); 1640s as "state of being (self)-addicted" to a habit, pursuit, etc., from Latin addictionem (nominative addictio) "an awarding, a delivering up," noun of action from past-participle stem of addicere "t
    solicit
    early 15c., soliciten, "to disturb, trouble, arouse, excite," from Old French soliciter, solliciter (14c.) and directly from Latin solicitare, sollicitare "to disturb, rouse, trouble, harass; stimulate, provoke," from sollicitus "agitated," from sollus "whole, entire" (from PIE r
    window
    c. 1200, literally "wind eye," from Old Norse vindauga, from vindr "wind" (see wind (n.1)) + auga "eye" (from PIE root *okw- "to see"). Replaced Old English eagþyrl, literally "eye-hole," and eagduru, literally "eye-door." Compare Old Frisian andern "window," literally "breath-do
    blog
    "online journal," 1998, short for weblog (which is attested from 1993 but in the sense "file containing a detailed record of each request received by a web server"), from (World Wide) Web (n.) + log (n.2). Joe Bloggs (c. 1969) was British slang for "any hypothetical person" (comp

    Share aerobic

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near aerobic
    Advertisement