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Pluto

PLOO-toh · proper noun

Ancient GreekLatinMiddle EnglishEnglish

Origin

Pluto comes from Middle English Pluto, from Latin Plūtō, from Ancient Greek Πλούτων (Ploútōn, 'god of the underworld'), which was built from πλοῦτος (ploûtos, 'wealth') plus a suffix -ων (-ōn).

Journey

The name started as a word tied to riches, became the title of the Greek underworld god, passed into Latin and Middle English, and later was suggested by Venetia Burney as the name for the celestial body Pluto.

Related words

Pluto is a doublet of Plouton, both descending from the same Greek root ploûtos meaning wealth.

More words

From Ancient Greek

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