Introduction
This is quite a large family with a number of borrowings into other language families. Because, it turns out, the Indo-European speakers' relationship with wheels is pretty important in a lot of people's history, like the Sumerians' relationship with reeds.
There is also a root *wel(h₁)-: "to turn, to wind, to eddy", which it's hard to argue is completely unrelated to *kʷel(h₁)-: "to roll, to turn"! But they're both quite big families, and I couldn't manage to do them both at once. The *wel(h₁)- family includes words like revolution, waltz, walk, vulgar, and wall. And then there's *welh₁-: "to choose, to want", possibly "to turn towards"?, with words like will and voloptuous.
Teaser
talisman,
pole,
pole,
culture,
Galileo,
wheel,
cycle,
collar,
palimpsest,
loaf
Full Text
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Proto-Indo-European
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Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- to choose, to want
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Proto-Indo-European *welh₁os resultative
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Indo-Iranian *wáras
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Indo-Aryan
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Sanskrit 𑀯𑀭 vará chooser, suitor, best, valuable, gift, blessing
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Sanskrit 𑀯𑀸𑀭 vāra choosing, moment, appointed time, day of the week
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Sanskrit 𑀩𑀼𑀥𑀯𑀸𑀭 budhavāra Mercury-day, Wednesday
- Thai วันพุธ wan pút Wednesday
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Elu
- Sinhala බදාදා badādā Wednesday
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Magadhi
- Bengali বুধবার budhbar Wendesday
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Sauraseni
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Madhya Sauraseni
- Hindi बुधवार budhvār Wednesday
- Telugu బుధవారము budhavāramu Wednesday
- Literary Chinese 水曜日 Mercury-day, Wednesday
- Tibetan གཟའ་ལྷག་པ gza' lhag pa weekday-Mercury, Wednesday
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Sanskrit 𑀪𑀸𑀦𑀼𑀯𑀸𑀭 bhānuvāra Sun-day, Sunday
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Literary Chinese 日曜日 Sunday
- Korean 일요일 iryoil Sunday
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Old Japanese 日曜日 nʲitɨjeupi₁ Sunday
- Japanese にちようび nichiyōbi Sunday
- Tibetan གཟའ་ཉི་མ gza' nyi ma weekday-Sun, Sunday
- Sanskrit 𑀭𑀯𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀭 ravivāra Sun-day, Sunday
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Sanskrit 𑀲𑁄𑀫𑀯𑀸𑀭 somavāra Moon-day, Monday
- Literary Chinese 月曜日 Moon-day, Monday
- Tibetan གཟའ་ཟླ་བ gza' zla ba weekday-Moon, Monday
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Sanskrit 𑀫𑀗𑁆𑀕𑀮𑀯𑀸𑀭 maṅgalavāra Mars-day, Tuesday
- Literary Chinese 火曜日 Mars-day, Tuesday
- Tibetan གཟའ་མིག་དམར gza' mig dmar weekday-Mars, Tuesday
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Sanskrit 𑀪𑁅𑀫𑀯𑀸𑀭 bhaumavāra Mars-day, Tuesday
- Khmer អង្គារ ʾɑngkiə Tuesday, Mars
- Thai อังคาร ang-kaan Tuesday, Mars, cremated remains
- Sanskrit 𑀕𑀼𑀭𑀼𑀯𑀸𑀭 guruvāra Jupiter-day, Thursday
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Sanskrit 𑀩𑀾𑀳𑀲𑁆𑀧𑀢𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀭 bṛhaspativāra Jupiter-day, Thursday
- Literary Chinese 木曜日 Jupiter-day, Thursday
- Tibetan གཟའ་ཕུར་བུ gza' phur bu weekday-Jupiter, Thursday
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Sanskrit 𑀰𑀼𑀓𑁆𑀭𑀯𑀸𑀭 śukravāra Venus-day, Friday
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Malayalam വെള്ളി veḷḷi silver, Venus, Friday
- Malayalam വെള്ളിയാഴ്ച veḷḷiyāḻca Friday
- Tamil வெள்ளிக்கிழமை veḷḷikkiḻamai Friday
- Literary Chinese 金曜日 Venus-Day, Friday
- Tibetan གཟའ་པ་སངས gza' pa sangs weekday-Venus, Friday
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Sanskrit 𑀰𑀦𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀭 śanivāra Saturn-day, Saturday
- Literary Chinese 土曜日 Saturn-Day, Saturday
- Tibetan གཟའ་སྤེན་པ gza' spen pa weekday-Saturn, Saturday
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- to roll, to turn
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁eti rolls, travels primary verb
- Albanian sjell to turn, to bring, to dawdle
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Hellenic *kʷélō
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Classical Greek πέλω pélō I go, I become, I am
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Classical Greek πάλαι pálai gone, far away, long ago
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Indo-Iranian *čárati
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Indo-Aryan *ćárati
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Sanskrit 𑀘𑀭𑀢𑀺 cárati moves, walks, wanders, directs, behaves
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Iranian *čárati
- Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬭𐬁𐬥𐬍 carānī I move, I approach
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Northern Iranian
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Scythian
- Ossetian цӕрын cæryn I live
- Pashto څرېدل caredal to take to pasture, to set to graze
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Western Iranian
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Northwestern Iranian
- Kurdish çerîn to set to graze
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Old Persian
- Persian چریدن to take to pasture, to set to graze
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Italic *kʷelezi
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Latin colere to plow, to cultivate, to inhabit, to worship
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Latin -cola inhabitor, cultivator, worshipper
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Latin agricola farmer lit. "field-turner"
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Latin Agricola personal name or occupational surname: Farmer
- French agricole agricultural
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Latin colōnus farmer, inhabitant, colonist
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Central Romance
- Italian colono colonist, settler, farmer
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Western Romance
- French colon colonist, colonizer, camper, sharecropper
- Spanish colono colonist, settler, farmer
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Latin colōnia colony, settlement, estate
- English colony
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Latin Colōnia Agrippīna Agrippine Colony, Cologne
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Western Romance
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French Cologne
- English Cologne
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French eau de Cologne
- English cologne
- Russian одеколо́н odekolón cologne
- German Köln
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Latin Lindum Colōnia Lincoln with Lindum from Brythonic *Lindon meaning "pool"
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Italic *inkʷelō
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Italic *inkʷelīnos
- Latin inquilīnus sojourner, tenant, of foreign origin
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷl̥nh₁eti presumably a -ne- infix, but all descendants show assimilation of the zero-grade infix to the *l̥, resulting in *-Vll-
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Celtic *kʷalleti
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Brythonic *pallad
- Welsh pallu to fail, to cease, to perish, to refuse
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Hellenic
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Classical Greek τέλλω téllō I accomplish, I perform, I rise
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Classical Greek ἀνᾰτέλλω anatéllō I rise, I raise up, I grow, I bring to light
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Classical Greek ἀνατολή anatolḗ sun rise, rise, east, growth
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Medieval Latin Anatolia
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Greek Ανατόλιος personal name: Easterne
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Latin Anatolius
- Russian Анатолий Anatolij
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Tocharian
- Arshian källāṣ to lead, to bring
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁esyeti
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Hellenic *kʷeléyyō
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Classical Greek τελέω teléō I complete, I fulfill, I perform, I present, I pay
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Classical Greek τέλεσμα télesma completion, payment, taxes, certificate
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Byzantine Greek τέλεσμα télesma completion, religious rite, talisman
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Arabic طلسم ṭilasm enigma, talisman, cryptogram
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French talisman
- Georgian თილისმა tilisma mascot, talisman
- Turkish tılsım charm, talisman
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French talisman
- English telesm
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷólh₁os
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Proto-Indo-European *gʷowkólh₁os cowherd
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Celtic *boukolyos
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Brythonic
- Welsh bugail shepherd, pastor
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Old Irish búachaill cowherd, herdsman
- Irish buachaill bó cowherd, cowboy
- Irish buachaill boy, boyfriend, herdsman, (male) employee
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Hellenic *gʷoukólos
- Mycenaean Greek 𐀦𐀄𐀒𐀫 qo-u-ko-ro cowherders
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Classical Greek βουκόλος boukólos cowherd
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Classical Greek βουκολῐκός boukolikós rustic, pastoral, pastoral poetry
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Latin būcolicus pertaining to shepherds, bucolic
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Balto-Slavic *kalas
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Slavic *kolo wheel, circle
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South Slavic
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Bulgarian коло kolo
- Bulgarian кола kola cart, car, wagon, cartload
- Bulgarian колело kolelo wheel, bicycle
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West Slavic
- Czech kolo bicycle, wheel
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Slavic *okolo around
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East Slavic
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Russian
- Russian окольничий okolničy
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Celtic *kʷolos
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Old Irish cul chariot?
- Old Irish culgaire chariot noise with gaire: "call, shout"
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Hellenic *kʷólos
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Classical Greek πόλος pólos axle, pivot, hinge
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Greek πόλος pólos pole (of an axis or battery)
- Greek Βόρειος Πόλος North Pole
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Latin polus pole (of an axis)
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷl̥h₁tós turned adjective
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Italic *kʷəltos
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Latin cultus tilled, cultivated, nurtured, worshipped, religious group
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French culte
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Latin cultūra care, cultuivation, agriculture, culture
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Latin agricultūra
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French culture
- Italian cultura
- Spanish cultura
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Medieval Latin cultīvus
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Medieval Latin cultivō
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Medieval Latin culativātus
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁os
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Hellenic *kʷélos
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Classical Greek τέλος télos completion, fulfillment, result, end, death, highest authority, taxes
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Classical Greek Ἀριστοτέλης Aristotélēs personal name: Best-Result
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Latin Aristotelēs Aristotle
- Geʿez አርሰጣጣሉ ʼarǝsṭāṭālu wizard
- Greek τέλος end, finish
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Classical Greek ὑποτελής hupotelḗs subject to paying taxes, tributary, taxable
- Greek υποτελής ypotelís vassal, subordinate, submissive
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Classical Greek τελωνιον telōnion custom house
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Latin telonium toll booth, custom house, tariff
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Western Romance
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Old French tolniu
- French tonlieu market toll, tariff modified by association with lieu
- English telonium
- English thelony
- English teleo-
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Hellenic *kʷélehi locative
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Classical Greek τῆλε têle far away, at a distance
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Classical Greek τηλεσκόπος tēleskópos far-seeing
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Italian telescopio telescope coined by Galileo Galilei in 1611
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁om
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlh₁os wheel collective *kʷékʷlh₁eh₂
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Anatolian *kuakula?? wheels (collective)
- Hittite 𒆪𒄢𒆷 KU.GUL.LA donut
- Sumerian 𒇀 GIGIR chariot
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Northwest Semitic *GLGL wheels, rolling
- Hebrew גלגל gálgal wheel
- Hebrew התגלגל hitgalgél to roll
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Hebrew גליל galíl circle, cylinder, wheel, region, district
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Hebrew הגליל haGalíl Galilee
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Classical Greek Γαλιλαία Galilaía Galilee
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Latin Galilaea Galilee
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Classical Greek Γαλιλαῖος Galilaîos Galilean
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Latin galilaeus Galilean, Christian
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Central Romance
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Italian Galileo Personal name: Galilean, Christian
- Italian Galileo Galilei
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English Galileo
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Italian Galilei Surname: son of or descendant of Galileo
- Yiddish גליל Golel Galilee
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Balto-Slavic *kaklas neck
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East Baltic
- Lithuanian kãklas neck, collar
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Finnic *kakla
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Germanic *hwehwlą wheel
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North Germanic
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Old Norse hvél
- Icelandic hvel wheel, disk, circle
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Germanic *hweulō wheels
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North Germanic
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Old Norse hjól wheel
- Danish hjul wheel
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Icelandic hjól wheel, tire
- Icelandic reiðhjól bicycle "ride-wheel"
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West Germanic
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Old English hwēol wheel
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Frankish *wiol
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Dutch wiel wheel
- Dutch rijwiel bicycle "ride-wheel"
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Hellenic
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Classical Greek κῠ́κλος kúklos circle, wheel, crowd, sphere
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Classical Greek Κύκλωψ Kúklōps cyclops
- Greek κύκλος kýklos circle, cycle, course
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Latin cyclus circle, cycle
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French cycle
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French bicycle
- Persian دوچرخه dočarxe bicycle
- French bicyclette
- English bicycle
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English cycle
- Japanese サイクル saikuru cycle, bicycle
- Italian ciclo
- Spanish ciclo
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English Kuklos Adelphon Greek learned borrowing: "circle of brothers"
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Classical Greek κυκλόω kuklóō to go in a circle, to surround
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Indo-Iranian *čakrám wheel
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Indo-Aryan *ćakrám
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Sanskrit 𑀘𑀓𑁆𑀭 cakrá wheel, circle, cycle
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Magadhi
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Pali cakka wheel, circle, cycle, command
- Burmese စက် cak circle, wheel, cycle, machine
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Khmer ចក្រ cak wheel, circle, cycle, area, law
- Khmer ទោចក្រយាន toocakkrɑyiən bicycle
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Thai จักร jàk wheel, circle, gear, chakra, realm
- Thai จักรยาน jàk-grà-yaan bicycle
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Sauraseni
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Madhya Sauraseni
- Hindi चक्कर cakkar circle, curve, roundabout
- Telugu చక్రము cakramu wheel
- English chakra
- English chakram
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Sanskrit 𑀘𑀓𑁆𑀭𑀯𑀭𑁆𑀢𑀺𑀦𑁆 cakravartin
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Iranian *čaxrám
- Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬑𐬭𐬀 caxra wheel
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Northern Iranian
- Pashto څرخ carx
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Western Iranian
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Northwestern Iranian
- Balochi چہر čahr
- Kurdish çerx wheel
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Old Persian
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Persian چرخ čarx wheel, cart, spool, pulley
- Persian دوچرخه dočarxe bicycle
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Iranian *čaxrákah spinning wheel
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Western Iranian
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Northwestern Iranian
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Old Persian
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Persian چرخه čarxe spinning wheel
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Hindi चरख़ा carxā spinning wheel
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Finnic *kecrä spindle, wheel, flywheel
- Finnish kehrä spindle, disk of the Sun or Moon
- Finnish kekri harvest festival "turning of the year?"
- Phrygian κίκλην kíklēn
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Tocharian *kukäle
- Arshian kukäl wagon, cart
- Kushean kokale wagon, cart
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Old Chinese *kla chariot
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Middle Chinese 車 kɨʌ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
- Mandarin 車 jū chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
- Wu 車 geoi¹ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
- Yue 車 jy¹ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
- Min Nan 車 chhia
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷolh₁som
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Italic *kʷolsom
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Latin collum neck
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Central Romance
- Italian collo neck, collar, package
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Insular Romance
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Western Romance
-
Old French col
- French cou neck
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French col collar, neck (of a vase, etc.)
- Spanish cuello neck, collar
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Latin collāris of the neck, collared
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Old French coler
- French colier
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English collar
- Irish coiléar collar, truss
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷolh₁sos
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Germanic *halsaz neck
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Germanic *frijahalsaz free, not imprisoned, freedom, liberty lit. "free-neck"
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East Germanic
- Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 freihals freedom, liberty
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North Germanic
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Old Norse frjáls
- Icelandic frjáls free
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Old Norse frelsa to free, to rescue
- Danish frelse to save, to rescue, to redeem
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West Germanic
- Old English frēols freedom, immunity, privilege, peace, festival
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East Germanic
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North Germanic
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Old Norse hals neck
- Danish hals neck, throat
- Icelandic háls neck, throat, a person (metonymically)
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West Germanic
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Old English heals neck, prow of a ship
- English halse
- English hause
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English hawse
- English hawser partly, but mostly from Norman haucier: "to raise, to lift" from altus
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Scots hause
- Scots hausebane collar bone
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Frankish *hals
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Old High German hals
- German Hals neck, throat
- Yiddish האַלדז haldz neck
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Germanic *halsōną to neck, to embrace
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North Germanic
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West Germanic
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Old English *healsian
- Middle English halsen to embrace
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷl̥h₁is
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Hellenic
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Classical Greek *pális back, reverse "turned part"
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Classical Greek πᾰ́λῐν pálin backwards, again
- Greek πάλι páli again
- Coptic ⲡⲁⲗⲓⲛ palin again
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Classical Greek πᾰλῐ́μψηστος palímpsēstos re-scraped
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Latin palimpsēstus manuscript scraped clean for re-use, palimpsest
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Proto-Indo-European ?
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Tocharian
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Old Chinese *kla chariot
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Middle Chinese 車 kɨʌ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
- Mandarin 車 jū chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
- Wu 車 geoi¹ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
- Yue 車 jy¹ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
- Min Nan 車 chhia
- Kushean kleŋke wagon
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Old Chinese *kʰlja chariot, cart
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Middle Chinese 車 t͡ɕʰia chariot, cart, vehicle, machine, to lathe
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Mandarin 車 chē chariot, cart, vehicle, machine, to lathe
- Mandarin 自行車 zìxíngchē bicycle "by oneself vehicle"
- Wu 車 tsho¹ chariot, cart, vehicle, machine, to lathe
- Yue 車 ce¹ chariot, cart, vehicle, machine, to lathe
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Japanese 車 sha vehicle, train car, counter for vehicle
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Japanese じてんしゃ jitensha bicycle "self rolling vehicle"
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Literary Chinese 自轉車
- Korean 자전거 jajeon'geo bicycle
- Taiwanese 自轉車 tsū-tsuán-tshia bicycle
- Amis citinsiya bicycle
- Korean 차 cha vehicle, especially a car
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Vietnamese xe wheeled vehicle
- Vietnamese xe đạp bicycle "kick (wheeled-
-
Old Chinese *kloːɡ hub, wheel, chariot
-
Middle Chinese 轂 kuk̚ hub, wheel, chariot
- Mandarin 轂 gǔ hub, wheel, chariot
- Yue 轂 guk¹ hub, wheel, chariot
- Min Nan 轂 kok hub, wheel, chariot
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Uralic *kulke- to go, to walk
-
Finno-Ugric
-
Finnic *kulkedak
- Finnish kulkea to go, to walk, to travel
-
Ugric
- Hungarian halad to proceed, to advance
-
Samoyedic
- Nenets хуˮла χūllā to drift
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Proto-Indo-European *kʷlh₁ewt- to turn, to change a new root re-analyzed from a zero-grade form?
-
Proto-Indo-European *kʷlh₁utsḱéti iterative verb
-
Tocharian *klutk-
- Arshian lutk- to make, to change, to become, to turn into
- Kushean klutk- to make, to change, to become, to turn into
-
Proto-Indo-European *kʷlh₁ewtsm̥
- Albanian qeshë was suppletive past tense of jam
-
Proto-Indo-European *klh₁eyp-? (flat) bread
-
Balto-Slavic
-
East Baltic
- Lithuanian kliẽpas loaf of bread
-
Germanic *hlaibaz
-
East Germanic
- Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 hlaifs bread
-
Slavic *xlě̀bъ
-
East Slavic хлѣбъ xlěbŭ
- Russian хлеб xleb bread, loaf, living
-
South Slavic
- Old Church Slavonic хлѣбъ xlěbŭ bread, loaf
- Serbo-Croatian хљеб hljeb bread, loaf
-
West Slavic
-
North Germanic
-
Old Norse hleifr loaf
- Danish lev
- Icelandic hleifur loaf (of bread)
-
West Germanic
-
Old English hlāf bread, loaf
-
Old English hlāfweard
-
Old English hlāford male head of household, master of servants, lord lit. "loaf-ward", i.e., "bread-guardian"
- English loaf
- Scots laif
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Old English hlǣfdīġe mistress of a household lit. "bread-kneader"
-
Finnic *laipa
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Samic *lājpē
- Northern Sami láibi bread
-
Hellenic
-
Classical Greek κρίβανος kríbanos bread pan, bread oven also appears as klíbanos
- Greek κλίβανος furnace
- Latin clībanus breadpan, oven, furnace
-
Proto-Indo-European *wel(h₁)- to turn, to wind, to eddy
-
Proto-Indo-European *wél(h₁)yeti transitive imperfective
-
Hellenic *wel(e)yō
-
Classical Greek εἰλέω eiléō I roll up, I pack, I close off
-
Classical Greek εἰλεός eileós a kind of vine, a den, an intestinal obstruction, colic
-
Latin ile groin, flank, intestines
-
Latin ilium variant
-
Vulgar Latin *iliata variant
-
Western Romance
-
Old Spanish ijada side, flank, pain in the side
- Spanish ijada side, flank, pain in the side
-
Old Spanish piedra de ijada jade jade was thought to cure pain in the side
-
French éjade jade
-
French jade rebracketing l'éjade to le jade
- English jade
- Spanish jade
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Vulgar Latin *iliaris
- Latin ileos severe colic
Visual

Collected English words
cyclops,
agriculture,
lord,
paleo-,
Agricola,
colony,
Cologne,
cologne,
Lincoln,
Anatolia,
Anatolian,
talisman,
telesm,
pole,
cult,
culture,
cultivate,
Aristotle,
telonium,
thelony,
teleo-,
telescope,
Galilee,
Galileo,
Galilean,
Galilean moon,
wheel,
cycle,
bicycle,
Kuklos Adelphon,
Ku Klux Klan,
cyclone,
chakra,
chakram,
chakravartin,
charkha,
col,
collar,
halse,
hause,
hawse,
hawser,
palimpsest,
loaf,
lady,
ilium,
jade,
bucolic
Footnotes