glotto-

1. variant of glosso-:

   glottology.

Word History and Origins

Origin of glotto-¹

< Greek ( Attic ) glōtto-, combining form of glôtta; glottis

Words That Use glotto-

What does glotto- mean?

The combining form glotto– is used like a prefix meaning “tongue.” Often, glotto– is used figuratively to mean “word,” “speech,” or “language.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in linguistics.

The form glotto– comes from Greek glôtta, meaning “tongue,” a variant of glôssa, with the same meaning. The Latin translation of glôssa is lingua, meaning “tongue” or “speech,” source of such words as language and bilingual.

What are variants of glotto-?

The form glotto– is a variant of glosso–, which is more commonly used in terms from anatomy. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article about glosso-.

Examples of glotto-

One example of a scientific term that uses the form glotto– is glottology, an obsolete term for the field of linguistics, “the science of language.”

We know glotto– means “tongue,” while the –logy portion of the word refers to “study,” from Greek logía. Glottology literally translates to “study of tongues (languages).”

What are some words that use the combining form glotto-?

• glottochronology
• glottogony

What are some other forms that glotto– may be commonly confused with?

• glauco-
• glio-
• glyc-
• glyco-

Break it down!

The combining form –gony has a variety of meanings including “origination.” With this in mind, what does glottogony literally mean?