# Are there more examples of Greek and Roman in the same word or phrase? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697 "2007-09-10T19:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pret-a-Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8c91f0/32.png) [@Pret-a-Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pret-a-Poster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/1 "2007-09-10T19:37:03Z")
> [@Cecil column](#): > > Grateful Dead… In other Dead news, I learn that John Epler, a leading bug authority and loyal Straight Dope reader, has named a newly discovered species of chironomid midge after the Dead, namely Dicrotendipes thanatogratus. (Thanatos is Greek for death, gratus Latin for grateful.) Abrim with boyish enthusiasm, he sent the band a note, but can you believe it, the ingrates (oh, rich irony!) never bothered to reply! Maybe they were turned off by the gauche commingling of Latin and Greek. … I’ve heard (but can’t recall who said it) of television, that “Nothing good can come from an invention coined from both Greek and Roman roots.” (Perhaps that was also from Ernie Kovacs, who said "“Television is a medium because it is neither rare nor well done.”) Are there more examples of Greek and Roman in the same word or phrase? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/2 "2007-09-10T19:45:14Z")
Wikipedia, naturally, has a page of [hybrid words](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_word) with Greek and Latin roots. The quote you’re looking for is properly, “Television? The word is half Latin and half Greek. No good can come of it.” by journalist [C. P. Scott](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._P._Scott). ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/3 "2007-09-10T20:21:43Z")
“Automobile” is the one that I always remember, if only because the pure-Greek “autokineticon” sounds so much cooler. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/4 "2007-09-10T21:40:06Z")
The genus name: _Australopithecus_: Latin: \*australis \*(southern) Greek: \*pithecos \*(ape). ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/5 "2007-09-10T21:48:46Z")
[QUOTE=MikeS] “Automobile” is the one that I always remember, if only because the pure-Greek “autokineticon” sounds so much cooler. [/QUOTE] Nitpick: It’s “autokineton” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/6 "2007-09-10T22:17:23Z")
[QUOTE=MikeS] “Automobile” is the one that I always remember, if only because the pure-Greek “autokineticon” sounds so much cooler. [/QUOTE] Likewise “hypertension.” “Supertension” is much cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/7 "2007-09-10T22:29:13Z")
[QUOTE=Polerius] Nitpick: It’s “autokineton” [/QUOTE] And after the autokineton industries really got moving, the vehicles they produced became known as ‘tokes’. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/8 "2007-09-10T22:59:28Z")
There’s the bigon/digon dispute in low dimensional topology. Mnemonic: Let bigons be bygones. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/9 "2007-09-10T23:14:43Z")
I used to work for a company called Transkaryotic Therapies. Trans is Latin, I believe, for across. Karyo is Greek but I’m not sure what it means. Head? AFAIK the word was coined when the company was formed. It was supposed to recall the use of prokaryotic (bacterial) DNA to therapeutically transform eukaryotic cells. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/10 "2007-09-11T08:09:41Z")
_Quadraphonic_ is an interesting case because it’s hybrid despite its older brother, _stereophonic_, being consistent in its roots: Greek-Greek. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/11 "2007-09-11T08:55:30Z")
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph] I used to work for a company called Transkaryotic Therapies. Trans is Latin, I believe, for across. Karyo is Greek but I’m not sure what it means. Head? AFAIK the word was coined when the company was formed. It was supposed to recall the use of prokaryotic (bacterial) DNA to therapeutically transform eukaryotic cells. [/QUOTE] Karyon= Nucleus, from the greek word for nut, kernel ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/12 "2007-09-11T08:59:54Z")
It’s quite common in botanical names (well, actually, [binomial nomenclature](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_and_Greek_words_commonly_used_in_systematic_names) in general) Example: Parsley is _Petroselinum crispum_ Petros (rock) - Greek Selinon (celery) - Greek Crispum (curly) - Latin ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/13 "2007-09-11T15:14:20Z")
_Tyrannosaurus Rex_ _tyrannos_ - (Gr) king (or tyrant) _sauros_ - (Gr) lizard _rex_ - (Ltn) king ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/14 "2007-09-11T20:03:27Z")
‘Homosexual’ ‘homos’ in Greek meaning ‘same’ (not Latin ‘homo’ meaning ‘man’). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-more-examples-of-greek-and-roman-in-the-same-word-or-phrase/418697/15 "2007-09-12T02:47:32Z")
“Sociology” in 1830 was probably the first such coinage, and if I remember right, at the time it was criticized for being a mixture of Latin and Greek.