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Origin and history of paramecium

paramecium(n.)

"genus of holotrichous ciliate Infusorial" [OED]; "the slipper-animalcule" [Century Dictionary]; 1752, Modern Latin Paramecium, the genus name, coined from Greek paramēkēs "oblong, oval," from para- "on one side" (see para- (1)) + mēkos "length," related to makros "long," from PIE root *mak- "long, thin."

also from 1752

Entries linking to paramecium

*mak-

*māk-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "long, thin." It might form all or part of: emaciate; macro; macro-; macrobiotic; macron; meager; paramecium. It might also be the source of: Greek makros "long, large," mēkos "length;" Latin macer "lean, thin;" Old Norse magr, Old English mæger "lean, thin."

para-(1)

before vowels, par-, word-forming element of Greek origin, "alongside, beyond; altered; contrary; irregular, abnormal," from Greek para- from para (prep.) "beside, near; issuing from; against, contrary to" (from PIE *prea, from root *per- (1) "forward," hence "toward, near; against").

It is cognate with Old English for- "off, away." Originally in English in Greek-derived words; it has been active in English mostly in scientific and technical words, but until recently was not usually regarded as a naturalized formative element in English.

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