the history of Greco-Roman hybridizing

[Fred Shapiro]

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:

> the correspondent who asked about Greco-Roman hybrids is enjoying the
> playful suggestions people have made, but now wonders how recent the
> phenomenon is.  anything before 1892, when "homosexual" was devised?

This is a minor point, but I have discovered an antedating of the English
word "homosexual" (J. A. Symonds used it in 1891, previously posted by me
on this list).  I believe it was used in German before that.

I think "sociology" (French "sociologie" used by Comte, 1838, English word
used in 1842) was an earlier example of a Greco-Roman etymological hybrid.

Fred


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