Etymograph

English

carbon

Carbon comes from Latin carbō ‘charcoal, coal’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarbō1‘charcoal’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentcarbone1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1892carbon1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English carbon
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, English Mechanic and World of Science: “To trim an arc lamp, first remove the old…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarbōWiktionary, English carbon‘charcoal’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentcarboneWiktionary, English carbon
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1892carbonWiktionary, English carbon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1892, English Mechanic and World of Science: “To trim an arc lamp, first remove the old…”

The story

Borrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, carbōnem (‘charcoal, coal’), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (‘to burn’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- ‘to burn’

hearth, 4 more

through Latin carbō ‘charcoal, coal’

carbuncle, 4 more

Today it means

noun The chemical element (symbol C) with an atomic number of 6. It can be found in pure form for example as graphite, a black, shiny and very soft material, or diamond, a colourless, transparent, crystalline solid and the hardest known material.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “carbon”. 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 / Latin carbō / carbon

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