Etymograph

English

plastic

Plastic comes from Latin plasticus ‘of molding’, from Ancient Greek πλαστικός ‘fit for moulding’, and ultimately from πλάσσω ‘to mold, form’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλάσσω1plássō‘to mold’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλαστικός1plastikós‘fit for moulding’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplasticus1‘of molding’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1718plastic1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English plastic
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.: “Benign Creator! let thy plastic hand dispose its own…”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλάσσωWiktionary, English plasticplássō‘to mold’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπλαστικόςWiktionary, English plasticplastikós‘fit for moulding’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplasticusWiktionary, English plastic‘of molding’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1718plasticWiktionary, English plastic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.: “Benign Creator! let thy plastic hand dispose its own…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with plastic, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Ancient Greek πλάσσω ‘to mold, form’

13 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A synthetic, solid, hydrocarbon-based polymer, whether thermoplastic or thermosetting.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “plastic”. 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 πλάσσω / plastic