English
acrolein
Acrolein comes from German Acrolein, from Latin acer ‘sharp’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-1‘sharp’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱrós2‘sharp’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*akris2‘sharp’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacer3‘sharp’
- Germanc. 1650–presentAcrolein3
- Englishtodayacrolein3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin acer
- 3 Wiktionary, English acrolein
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós‘sharp’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱrósWiktionary, Latin acer‘sharp’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*akrisWiktionary, Latin acer‘sharp’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacerWiktionary, English acrolein‘sharp’
- Germanc. 1650–presentAcroleinWiktionary, English acrolein
- EnglishtodayacroleinWiktionary, English acrolein
Formed from -in
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- ‘sharp’
hear, edge, egg, ear, acid, hammer, axe, acute, oxide, acne, paragon, acetate, acupuncture, hark, acacia, acumen, acme, acuity, acyl, rosacea, roselle, 71 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós ‘sharp’
through Proto-Italic *akris ‘sharp’
exacerbate, exacerbation, acerbic, 6 more
through Latin acer ‘sharp’
Today it means
noun A pungent, acrid, poisonous liquid aldehyde, CH₂=CH-CH=O, made by the destructive distillation of glycerol.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “acrolein”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱrós, Latin acer. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- / acrolein