Etymograph

English

latex

Latex comes from New Latin latex ‘clear fluid which is part of a humour or…’, and goes back to Ancient Greek λᾰ́τᾰξ ‘drop of wine’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλᾰ́τᾰξlắtăx‘drop of wine’
  2. New Latinc. 1500–1900latex‘clear fluid which is part of a humour or bodily fluid’
  3. Englishtodaysame form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλᾰ́τᾰξlắtăx‘drop of wine’
  2. New Latinc. 1500–1900latex‘clear fluid which is part of a humour or bodily fluid’
  3. Englishtodaysame form

The story

Potentially a borrowing from Ancient Greek λᾰ́τᾰξ (lắtăx, “drop of wine”), reformed by analogy to other nouns in -ex. The semantic shift, however, from drop of wine to water is difficult to explain and may indicate that both words originated from a separate language.

Every English word from Ancient Greek λᾰ́τᾰξ

Today it means

noun A clear liquid believed to be a component of a humour or other bodily fluid (esp. plasma and lymph).

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

Etymograph / Ancient Greek λᾰ́τᾰξ / latex

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