Is there an etymological link between the words "asymptote" and "asymptomatic"?
Gk. piptein “to fall” is the common factor between asymptote (Gk. asymptotos “not falling together”) and asymptomatic (a + sympiptein “to befall”).
(Culled from Online Etymology Dictionary.)
Asymptote
origin C17: from mod. L. asymptota (linea) ‘(line) not meeting’, from Gk asumptōtos ‘not falling together’.
Symptom
origin ME synthoma, from med. L., based on Gk sumptōma ‘chance, symptom’, from sumpiptein ‘happen’; later influenced by Fr. symptome.
So, they're not really related, other than both being derived from Latin via Greek, and sharing the Greek prefix "sum" ("with").
- asymptote comes from 17th Century mathematics, symptom from medieval times
- asymptote is derived from the Greek ἀσύμπτωτος (not falling in), while symptom comes from the Greek σύμπτωμα (something that happens, a chance, an occurrence)