carbon

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkɑː.bən/, US /ˈkɑːr.bən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French carbone,^[2][3][4] coined by Lavoisier in 1787,^[5][2] from Latin carbō (“a coal, glowing coal; charcoal”) (genitive carbōnis),^[5][2][6] from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“heat, fire”).^[5] It is related to hearth and carbuncle.^[2][3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The chemical element: 1789, as carbone;^[2][8][3] the spelling carbon appeared in 1808.^[2] In Middle English (1415) carbon “charcoal” was borrowed from Anglo-French, but this use did not survive.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Carbon paper, for making copies, is from 1855, earlier carbonic paper (1850),^[5] and carbon short for it from 1895;^[8] a carbon copy is shortened to carbon from 1937.^[8] A charcoal pencil used in arc lamps is from about 1860.^[8] Carbon 14, the radioactive isotope, is from 1936,^[5][8] and carbon dating from 1958.^[5] The carbon cycle is attested from 1912,^[5] and carbon footprint was in use by 2001.^[5] Carbonate, carbonic and carbonaceous are 18th-century derivatives.^[6]

Timeline

• 1415 – charcoal (did not survive).^[2]
• 1789 – the element.^[2][8]
• 1808 – the spelling carbon.^[2]
• 1855 – carbon paper.^[5]
• 1912 – carbon cycle.^[5]
• 1936 – carbon 14.^[5][8]
• 1958 – carbon dating.^[5]
• 2001 – carbon footprint.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A non-metallic chemical element found in all organic compounds, occurring pure as diamond and graphite and in coal and petroleum; symbol C, atomic number 6.
2. A sheet of carbon paper, or a carbon copy.
3. A carbon rod used in an electric arc lamp or battery.
4. Carbon dioxide or other carbon compounds released into the air, as in carbon emissions.

Word family

• carbonous
• carbonless

Related words

• carbonaceous
• carbonado
• Carbonari
• carbonate
• carboniferous
• carbuncle
• carbonara
• hearth

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press