anthropo-

combining form

: human being

anthropogenic

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek, combining form from ánthrōpos "human being, person," perhaps of substratal origin

Note: Hypotheses of Indo-European origin have been proposed, but none are generally accepted. The form of the word in Mycenaean Greek, a-to-ro-qo, shows that the -p- was originally a labiovelar, which has led to the assumption that the word has an Indo-European ancestry. However, words that are more likely substratal, as basileús "king" (Mycenaean qa-si-re-u), possessed labiovelars.