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Jan van Steenbergen scripsit: > > Climax < Greek _klimax_ 'ladder', ironically enough. > > Cognate with "climb", or does it only seem so? Almost certainly not, since Greek k = Germanic h/x. I can find no cognates of "climb" outside the Germanic languages (but my resources are limited). The PIE root of "klimax" is klei- 'lean', which has no English reflexes in full grade (but borrowings -cline (in Latin words), -clivity, clitoris); in zero grade, we have lid < OE hlid, lean < OE hleonian, and borrowings client, climate, -cline (in Greek words), clitic. Finally, in o-grade we have kloi-tr- > PGmc hlaidri > OE hlaeder > ladder! -- I don't know half of you half as well John Cowan as I should like, and I like less than half jcowan@hidden.email of you half as well as you deserve. http://www.ccil.org/~cowan --Bilbo http://www.reutershealth.com