Schizophrenia

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English

Root

Cheka

to cut, to slice, to sever; whence mucheka, cloth, that which is cut

Schizophrenia descends through Greek skhizein to Shona cheka, to cut

Confidence
62/100
Root language
Shona
Descent begins
schizophreniaEnglish

The consensus position

Mainstream comparative linguistics holds schizophrenia to be a learned neoclassical compound coined in German by Eugen Bleuler in 1908 from Ancient Greek skhizein 'to split' (from PIE *skeyd-) and phrēn 'diaphragm, mind', borrowed into English around 1912. No connection to Bantu languages is proposed or entertained.

The working behind this.

The full descent — 10 links from the attested form down to the root — the segment-by-segment correspondences, the phonological breakdown and the case for the derivation are behind an account.

An account opens 10 entries in full, free.

Elsewhere in the corpus