Etymograph

English

alkapton

Alkapton comes from German Alkapton.

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentAlkapton
  2. Englishtodayalkapton

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentAlkapton
  2. Englishtodayalkapton

A compound of Alkali ‘alkali’ + κάπτον

Arabic اَلْقِلْي ‘alkali, ashes of the saltwort’

French alcali ‘alkali’

German Alkali ‘alkali’

The story

From German Alkapton, coined by Boedeker (1861) as "an admittedly somewhat barbaric combination" of Alkali (‘alkali’) + Ancient Greek κάπτον (kápton), neuter present participle of Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”), after the tendency of alkapton to strongly react with oxygen in alkaline solution.

Every English word from German Alkapton

Today it means

noun homogentisic acid

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / German Alkapton / alkapton

Shirt and support for this word