English
hydrogen
Hydrogen comes from French hydrogène, from Ancient Greek γένος ‘race, stock, kin’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁os‘race, lineage’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*génos‘race’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγένοςgénos‘race, stock, kin’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenthydrogène
- Englishearliest quotation 1791hydrogen
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-‘to produce’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵénh₁os‘race, lineage’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*génos‘race’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγένοςgénos‘race, stock, kin’
- Frenchc. 1600–presenthydrogène
- Englishearliest quotation 1791hydrogen
Earliest quotation: 1791, Erasmus Darwin, Canto I: “The ignis fatuus or Jack a lantern, ſo frequently…”
Equivalent to hydro- + -gen
Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘water’
Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ ‘water’
Proto-Hellenic *údōr ‘water’
Ancient Greek ῡ̆̔́δωρ ‘water’
English hydro-
The story
Borrowed from French hydrogène (‘hydrogen’), coined by the French chemists Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau (1737–1816) and Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794) from hydro- (prefix meaning ‘water’) + -gène (suffix denoting a producer of something), from the fact that water is produced as a compound when hydrogen is oxidized.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’
kind, king, nature, nation, german, native, engine, pregnant, genuine, genetic, ken, genius, generate, indigenous, gentle, naive, generic, generous, kin, noel, transgender, genesis, innate, natal, regeneration, nee, nativity, generosity, nada, genital, naïve, ingenious, janata, germ, nascent, genealogy, degeneration, puny, gentile, jaunty, 104 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵénh₁os ‘race, lineage’
general, generation, gender, gene, genuinely, genre, genus, 30 more
through Ancient Greek γένος ‘race, stock, kin’
Today it means
noun The lightest chemical element (symbol H), with an atomic number of 1 and atomic weight of 1.008.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / hydrogen