rhabdo-

combining form

1

: rodlike structure

rhabdovirus

2

: striated muscle fiber

rhabdomyosarcoma

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek, combining form from rhábdos "rod, wand, streak or stripe on an animal," of uncertain origin

Note: The Greek word has been taken as going back to *u̯r̥b^(h)-, and hence related to Old Church Slavic vrĭbije "willows (collective)," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian vŕba "willow," and Lithuanian vir̃bas "twig, switch, rod" (see vervain). The suffix -do- is variously accounted for; Chantraine (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque) characterizes formations with the suffix -do- as "often expressive" ("souvent expressif"). R. Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009) regards rhábdos as well as rhámnos "buckthorn" as of pre-Greek substratal origin.