A hybrid word is a word which etymologically has one part derived from one language and another part derived from a different language.

Common hybrids

The most common form of hybrid word in English is one which combines etymologically Latin and Greek parts. Since many prefixes and suffixes in English are of Latin or Greek etymology, it is straightforward to add a prefix or suffix from one language to an English word that comes from a different language, thus creating a hybrid word.

Such etymologically-disparate mixing is considered by some to be bad form. Others, however, argue that, since both (or all) parts already exist in the English lexicon, such mixing is merely the conflation of two (or more) English morphemes in order to create an English neologism (new word), and so is appropriate.

Examples

• Aquaphobia – from Latin aqua "water" and Greek f?ß?a "fear"; this term is distinguished from the non-hybrid word hydrophobia, which can refer to symptoms of rabies.
• Automobile – a wheeled passenger vehicle, from Greek a?t?~ (auto) "self~" and Latin mobilis "moveable"
• Biathlon – from the Latin bis and the Greek (athlon)
• Bigamy – from the Latin bis meaning "twice" and the Greek ?aµ?? (gamos)
• Bioluminescence — from the Greek ß??? (bios) "living" and the Latin lumen "light"
• Dysfunction — from the Greek d?s- (dus-) meaning "bad" and the Latin functio
• Electrocution — a portmanteau of electricity, from the Greek ??e?t??? (elektron), "amber", and execution, from the Latin exsequere, "follow out"
• Hexadecimal — from the Greek (hex) meaning "six" and the Latin decimus meaning "tenth"
• Homosexual — from the Greek ?µ?? (homos) meaning "same" and the Latin sexus meaning "gender" (This example is remarked on in Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love, with A. E. Housman's character saying "Homosexuality? What barbarity! It's half Greek and half Latin!".)
• Hyperactive — from the Greek ?p?? (hyper) meaning "over" and the Latin activus
• Hypercomplex – from the Greek (hyper)
• Hypercorrection — from the Greek (hyper) meaning "over" and the Latin correctio
• Hyperextension — from the Greek (hyper) meaning "over" and the Latin extensio meaning "stretching out"
• Hypervisor — from the Greek (hyper) meaning "over" and the Latin visor meaning "seer"; the non-hybrid word is supervisor
• Liposuction — from the Greek (lipos) meaning "fat" and the Latin suctio meaning "sucking"
• Macroinstruction — from the Greek µa???? (makros) meaning "long" and the Latin instructio
• Mega-annum — from the Greek µ??a? (megas), meaning "large", and the Latin annum, "year"
• Metadata — from the Greek (meta) and the Latin data meaning "given"
• Microvitum — from the Greek µ????? (mikros) meaning "small" and the pseudo-Latin vitum
• Monoculture — from the Greek µ???? (monos) and the Latin cultura
• Monolingual — from the Greek µ???? (monos) meaning "one" and the Latin lingua meaning "tongue"; the non-hybrid word is unilingual
• Mormon — It was alleged by Joseph Smith^{[citation needed]} that Mormon comes from the English "more" and the Reformed Egyptian mon meaning "good".
• Neonate — from the Greek ???? (neos), "new", and the Latin natus, "birth"
• Neuroscience — from the Greek neuron, meaning "sinew," and the Latin "sciens," meaning "having knowledge."
• Neurotransmitter — from the Greek neuron, meaning "sinew," and the Latin, trans meaning "across" and mittere meaning "to send."
• Nonagon — from the Latin nonus meaning "ninth" and the Greek ????? (gonon) meaning "angle"; the non-hybrid word is enneagon
• Pandeism — from the Greek p?? (pan) meaning "all" and Latin deus meaning "God"; the non-hybrid word is pantheism
• Periglacial — from the Greek (peri) and the Latin glacialis
• Polyamory — from the Greek p???? (polys) meaning "many" and the Latin amor meaning "love"
• Polydeism — from the Greek p???? (polys) meaning "many" and the Latin deus meaning "God"; the non-hybrid word is polytheism
• Quadraphonic — from the Latin quattuor meaning four and the Greek (-phonikos); the non-hybrid word is tetraphonic
• Quadriplegia — from the Latin quattuor meaning four and the Greek (-plegia); the non-hybrid word is tetraplegia
• Sociology — from the Latin socius, "comrade", and the Greek ????? (logos) meaning "word", "reason", "discourse"
• Sociopath — from the Latin socius from sociare meaning "to associate with," and the Greek (-pathes) meaning "sufferer" from pathos meaning "incident", "suffering," or "experience."
• Television — from the Greek t??e (tele) meaning "far" and the Latin visio from videre meaning "to see"
• Tonsillectomy — from the Latin tonsillae "to branch" and the Greek (ektomia (lat)-ectomia "to cut" as in remove)

See also

• International Scientific Vocabulary
• Greek and Latin roots in English
• Classical compound
• Interlingua
• In Sino-Japanese vocabulary, hybrid words are called jubako (??) or yuto (??); see: Kanji#Other readings

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