English
diamond
Diamond comes from Old French diamant, from Late Latin diamās, probably an alteration of Latin adamās ‘adamant’, from Ancient Greek ἀδάμας ‘diamond; invincible’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀδάμαςadámās‘diamond; invincible’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadamās‘adamant; diamond’uncertain
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdiamās
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400diamant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dyamaunt
- Englishearliest quotation 1720diamond
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀδάμαςadámās‘diamond; invincible’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadamās‘adamant; diamond’uncertain
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdiamās
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400diamant
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dyamaunt
- Englishearliest quotation 1720diamond
Earliest quotation: 1720, Francis Nichols, Rudiments of Honour: “Elphingston. Pearl a Chevron Diamond between three Boars Heads…”
The story
The printing sense is a calque of Dutch diamant, used by Dirck Voskens who first cut it around 1700; compare pearl, ruby (‘size of type between pearl and nonpareil’).
Linked words
pairs
- diamond and adamant both from Ancient Greek ἀδάμας ‘invincible’
through Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- ‘to tame, domesticate’
through Ancient Greek δαμνάω ‘conquer’
through Ancient Greek ἀδάμᾱς
through Latin adamās ‘Adamant’
Today it means
noun A glimmering glass-like mineral that is an allotrope of carbon in which each atom is surrounded by four others in the form of a tetrahedron.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἀδάμας / diamond