Etymograph

English

refrigerant

Refrigerant comes from Latin refrīgerāns ‘cooling off’, from refrīgerō ‘to cool, to refresh’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sríHgos ‘cold, frost’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sríHgos‘cold, frost’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*srīgosreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrīgus‘cold, coldness, coolness, chilliness’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrīgerō‘to cool’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErefrīgerō‘to cool, to refresh’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErefrīgerāns‘cooling off’present participle of refrīgerō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1788refrigerant

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sríHgos‘cold, frost’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*srīgosreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrīgus‘cold, coldness, coolness, chilliness’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrīgerō‘to cool’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErefrīgerō‘to cool, to refresh’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErefrīgerāns‘cooling off’present participle of refrīgerō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1788refrigerant

Earliest quotation: 1788, John Hawkesworth, Laudes Dargelli, or, Verses on the Dargle: “Here on a bank, refrigerant seat, Screen’d from the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *srīgos

frigidaire, 11 more

through Latin frīgus ‘cold, coldness, coolness, chilliness’

frigid, frisson, 12 more

Today it means

noun A substance used in a heat cycle that undergoes a phase change between gas and liquid to allow the cooling, as in refrigerators, air conditioners, etc.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sríHgos / refrigerant

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