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Origin and history of techno-

techno-

word-forming element active from mid-19c. and meaning "art, craft, skill," later "technical, technology," from Latinized form of Greek tekhno-, combining form of tekhnē "art, skill, craftsmanship, craft in work; method, system, an art, a system or method of making or doing," from PIE *teks-na- "craft" (of weaving or fabricating), from suffixed (or reduplicated) form of root *teks- "to weave," also "to fabricate." The full range of the Greek word is difficult to translate into English.

[Greek Technē] includes both the fine arts (music) and the practical arts (cookery); all forms of skilled craftsmanship (ship-building) and various professional activities (navigation and soldiering); besides activities calling for scientific skill (medicine). It may thus be said to cover any skilled activity with its rules of operation, the knowledge of which is acquired by training. [note in Sir Desmond Lee translation of Plato's "Republic"] 

also from mid-19c.

Entries linking to techno-

polytechnic(adj.)

1805, "pertaining to or comprehending instruction in many (technical) subjects," from French École Polytechnique, name of an engineering school founded 1794 (as École des Travaux publics) in Paris; from Greek polytekhnos "skilled in many arts," from polys "many" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill") + tekhnē "art" (see techno-). As a noun (short for polytechnic institution) from 1836. Related: Polytechnical.

pyrotechnic(adj.)

1704, "of or pertaining to the use of fire" (a sense now obsolete); 1825, "of or pertaining to fireworks and the art of making them," from pyrotechny "the manufacture and use of gunpowder" (1570s), from pyro- "fire" + Latinized form of Greek tekhnē "art" (see techno-).

Figurative use, "brilliant, explosive display," is attested from 1847. Related: Pyrotechnical (1610s, from pyrotechny).

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technical
1610s, "skilled in a particular art or subject," formed in English from technic + -al (1), or in part from Latinized form of Greek tekhnikos "of art; systematic," in reference to persons "skillful, artistic," from tekhnē "art, skill, craft" (see techno-). The sense narrowed to "h
technocracy
1919, coined by W.H. Smyth as a name for a new system of government by technical experts, from techno- + -cracy. William Henry Smyth, a distinguished engineer of Berkeley, California, wrote at the close of the war a series of thoughtful papers for the New York magazine "Industri
geek
To temporarily enter techno-nerd mode while in a non-hackish context, for example at parties held near computer equipment...
myriad
1550s, "the number of 10,000," also "an indefinitely great number," from French myriade and directly from Late Latin myrias (genitive myriadis) "ten thousand," from Greek myrias (genitive myriados) "a number of ten thousand; countless numbers," from myrios (plural myrioi) "innume
folk
Old English folc "common people, laity; men; people, nation, tribe; multitude; troop, army," from Proto-Germanic *fulka- (source also of Old Saxon folc, Old Frisian folk, Middle Dutch volc, Dutch volk, Old High German folc, German Volk "people"). Perhaps originally "host of warri
yield
Old English gieldan (West Saxon), geldan (Anglian) "to pay, pay for; reward, render; worship, serve, sacrifice to" (class III strong verb; past tense geald, past participle golden), from Proto-Germanic *geldan "pay" (source also of Old Saxon geldan "to be worth," Old Norse gjaldo
vesper
late 14c., "the evening star," from Old French vespre "evening, nightfall" (12c., Modern French vêpre), from Latin vesper (masc.), vespera (fem.) "evening star, evening, west," related to Greek hesperos, and ultimately from PIE *uekero- "evening, night" (source also of Armenian g
develop
1650s, "unroll, unfold" (a sense now obsolete), from French développer. It replaced earlier English disvelop (1590s, from French desveloper); both French words are from Old French desveloper, desvoleper, desvoloper "unwrap, unfurl, unveil; reveal the meaning of, explain," from de
amethyst
violet-colored quartz, late 13c., amatist, from Old French ametiste (12c., Modern French améthyste) and directly from Medieval Latin amatistus, from Latin amethystus, from Greek amethystos "amethyst," noun use of an adjective meaning "not intoxicating; not drunken," from a- "not"
Yankee
1683, a name applied disparagingly by Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) to English colonists in neighboring Connecticut. It may be from Dutch Janke, literally "Little John," diminutive of common personal name Jan; or it may be from Jan Kes familiar form of "John Corneliu

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