Etymograph

English

adamantine

Adamantine comes from Ancient Greek ἀδᾰμάντῐνος ‘hard as adamant’, and goes back to ἀδάμας ‘diamond’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀδάμας1‘diamond’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀδᾰμάντῐνος2adămántĭnos‘hard as adamant’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadamantinus2
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400adamantin2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500adamantine2‘(adjective) of adamant’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1593adamantine2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀδαμάντινος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English adamantine
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1593, Thomas Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […]: “Embravvne your ſoft-skind encloſure vvith Adamantine duſt, that it…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀδάμαςWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀδαμάντινος‘diamond’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀδᾰμάντῐνοςWiktionary, English adamantineadămántĭnos‘hard as adamant’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadamantinusWiktionary, English adamantine
  4. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400adamantinWiktionary, English adamantine
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500adamantineWiktionary, English adamantine‘(adjective) of adamant’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1593adamantineWiktionary, English adamantine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1593, Thomas Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […]: “Embravvne your ſoft-skind encloſure vvith Adamantine duſt, that it…”

Equivalent to adamant + -ine

Ancient Greek ἀδάμας ‘invincible’

Latin adamās ‘hard as steel’

Latin adamantem

Middle English adamant ‘adamant’

English adamant

The story

From Middle English adamantine, adamantyne, adamauntyn (‘(adjective) of adamant; (noun) adamant’), from Anglo-Norman adamantin and Middle French adamantin (‘of or resembling adamant or diamond’) (modern French adamantin), and from its etymon Latin adamantinus (‘adamantine’), from Ancient Greek ἀδᾰμάντῐνος (adămántĭnos, “hard as adamant; made of steel”), from ᾰ̓δᾰμᾰντ- (ădămănt-) (a stem of ἀδάμᾱς (adámās, “the hardest metal (probably steel); diamond”), possibly originally Semitic) + -ῐνος (-ĭnos, suffix meaning ‘made of’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, adamant + -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Etymology 1, adjective sense 1.2.4 (‘having the quality of attracting or drawing’) and etymology 1, adjective sense 2 (‘like diamond in lustre; etc.’) refer to adamant (‘(archaic) lodestone; (historical, poetic) diamond’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- ‘to tame, domesticate’

indomitable, daunt, 12 more

through Ancient Greek δαμνάω ‘conquer’

diamond, diamante, 9 more

Today it means

adj Made of adamant (“an unspecified mineral or rock of virtually impenetrable hardness”).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “adamantine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ἀδαμάντινος. 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 / Ancient Greek ἀδάμας / adamantine

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