You made me curious about the spelling of 'holistic', given that it really is based on the concept of wholeness. It turns out:
- Holistic is formed from the Greek root hol-, meaning "whole". Like hologram.
- It's even closer to the English than it looks; modern whole descends from Old English hal (cognate to the Greek word), which also gives us hale and health. The W in the modern spelling is a spurious addition unrelated to the etymology of the word. You'd expect "hole".
- Who is different, and the W in that word is etymologically correct. (Old English hwa.)
You made me curious about the spelling of 'holistic', given that it really is based on the concept of wholeness. It turns out:
- Holistic is formed from the Greek root hol-, meaning "whole". Like hologram.
- It's even closer to the English than it looks; modern whole descends from Old English hal (cognate to the Greek word), which also gives us hale and health. The W in the modern spelling is a spurious addition unrelated to the etymology of the word. You'd expect "hole".
- Who is different, and the W in that word is etymologically correct. (Old English hwa.)