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Where does the word "radius" come from? It comes from Latin radius, and was adopted directly into English (1590s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "radius" come from? It comes from Latin radius, and was adopted directly into English (1590s).
Radius’s story begins in Latin: radius meant “a spoke, a rod.” A spoke, a ray, a rod. It reached English by 1590s as radius. Latin 'ray, spoke of a wheel'. Today, radius means the distance from the center of a circle to any point on its circumference.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient radius "a spoke, a rod", a spoke, a ray, a rod.
- Stage 2 · English · 1590s radius "the distance from the center of a circle to its edge", Latin 'ray, spoke of a wheel'.