English
fiber
Fiber comes from Old French fibre, and goes back to Latin fibra ‘fibre, filament’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfibra‘fibre, filament’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fibre
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 2008fiber
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfibra‘fibre, filament’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fibre
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 2008fiber
Earliest quotation: 2008, Joe Duffy, Concurrent Programming on Windows: “We've seen how to create a new fiber and…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‘to split’
boat, bet, bite, bitter, bait, fission, feta, fissure, fissile, fettuccine, abet, 25 more
through French fibre
Today it means
noun A single elongated piece of a given material, roughly round in cross-section, often twisted with other fibers to form thread.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin fibra / fiber