English
graphene
Graphene comes from German Graphit ‘graphite’, from Ancient Greek γράφω ‘to scratch, cut into’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-‘to carve’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*grə́pʰō‘to scratch, cut or carve into’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγράφωgráphō‘to scratch, cut into’
- Germanc. 1650–presentGraphit‘graphite’
- Englishearliest quotation 2014graphene
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gerbʰ-‘to carve’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*grə́pʰō‘to scratch, cut or carve into’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγράφωgráphō‘to scratch, cut into’
- Germanc. 1650–presentGraphit‘graphite’
- Englishearliest quotation 2014graphene
Earliest quotation: 2014, Nick Bilton, Bend it, charge it, dunk it: Graphene, the material of tomor: “Graphene is the strongest, thinnest material known to exist.…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- ‘to carve’
grammar, crawl, crab, carve, crawfish, astrophotography, 82 more
through Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō ‘to scratch, cut or carve into’
photography, graffiti, graft, demography, grimoire, ultrasonography, epigraph, sonography, 76 more
through Ancient Greek γράφω ‘to scratch, cut into’
Today it means
noun Any polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon having the structure of part of a layer of graphite.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- / graphene