'Radio' traces to Latin 'radius' (ray) — andthe same root gave us 'radish' (the root) and 'radical' (to the root).
Definition
The transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves, especially those carrying sound messages; a device for receiving broadcast programs.
The Full Story
Latin1903well-attested
Shortened from "radiotelegraphy," coined in theearly 1900s from Latin "radius" ("staff, rod, spoke of a wheel, ray of light, beam"), from PIE *wréh₁ds ("root, branch"), a derivative of *wreh₁d- ("root"). The PIE root also produced Latin "rādīx" ("root," yielding English "radical," "radish," "eradicate"), Old English "wyrt" ("plant, herb," surviving in "wort" and "St. John's Wort"), Old Norse "rót" ("root," which replaced the native English form), Greek
Did you know?
Theword 'radio' shares its root with 'radish' — both from Latin 'radius/rādīx' (ray/root). A radish is literally 'the root vegetable,' and a radio transmits by radiation (rays). Even 'eradicate' belongs to this family: it means 'to pull out by the roots.' Rays and roots converge in the image of things extending outward from a center
from "radiotelegraphy" by 1907. The word's journey from plant roots to broadcast technology spans the entire history of Indo-European linguistic evolution: a PIE farming term became a Latin geometric term became a modern technology term, each sense radiating outward from the same core metaphor. Key roots: radius (Latin: "ray, spoke, beam").