Etymograph

English

carbon

Carbon comes from Latin carbō ‘charcoal, coal’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarbō‘charcoal’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentcarbone
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1892carbon

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarbō‘charcoal’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentcarbone
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1892carbon

Earliest quotation: 1892, English Mechanic and World of Science: “To trim an arc lamp, first remove the old…”

The story

Borrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, carbōnem (‘charcoal, coal’), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (‘to burn’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- ‘to burn’

hearth, 6 more

through Latin carbō ‘charcoal, coal’

carbuncle, 6 more

Today it means

noun The chemical element (symbol C) with an atomic number of 6. It can be found in pure form for example as graphite, a black, shiny and very soft material, or diamond, a colourless, transparent, crystalline solid and the hardest known material.

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

Etymograph / Latin carbō / carbon

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