English
lipid
Lipid comes from French lipide, from Ancient Greek λῐ́πος ‘animal fat’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- ‘to stick’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyp-‘to stick’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lípos‘fat’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλῐ́ποςlĭ́pos‘animal fat’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlipide
- Englishearliest quotation 2009lipid
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyp-‘to stick’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lípos‘fat’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλῐ́ποςlĭ́pos‘animal fat’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlipide
- Englishearliest quotation 2009lipid
Earliest quotation: 2009, Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood: “Without lipids your body eats your fat and then…”
The story
Borrowed from French lipide, coined in 1923 by Gabriel Bertrand from Ancient Greek λῐ́πος (lĭ́pos, “animal fat”) + French -ide.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leyp- ‘to stick’
life, leave, live, living, twelve, eleven, lib, lave, lipa, 19 more
Today it means
noun Any of a group of organic compounds including the fats, oils, waxes, sterols, and triglycerides. Lipids are characterized by being insoluble in water.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leyp- / lipid