Why Doesn't 'Holistic' Start With A 'W'?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve heard people use the term ‘holistic’ before, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant. When I looked up the definition at dictionary.com it says-

“Concerned with wholes rather than analysis or separation into parts: holistic medicine; holistic ecology”

So if it means that it’s concerned with the wholes rather than the parts, why isn’t it spelled wholistic? Is it concerned with wholes, or holes??

Thanks.

2

For the same reason that “holocaust” doesn’t have a “w”. They are both from the same greek stem, “hol-” meaning total or totally. “Whole” has an different etymology, coming from the Old English “hal” meaning healthy. (“Hale”, as in “hale and hearty”, comes from the same word.)

3

For the same reason that “holocaust” doesn’t have a “w”. They are both from the same greek stem, “hol-” meaning total or totally. “Whole” has an different etymology, coming from the Old English “hal” meaning healthy. (“Hale”, as in “hale and hearty”, comes from the same word.)

4

“And that is why this is a skillet.”

Name that obscure reference!