cellulose

Etymology

It is borrowed from French cellulose,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} formed from cellule (“small cell”) and the suffix -ose (as in -ose), after glucose.^[2][3][6] The French noun comes from Latin cellula (“little cell”),^[8][7][4] a diminutive of cella (“small room”), the source of cell.^[8][9] The OED credits the term to Brongniart and his colleagues, who coined it in 1839 in a report on a paper by the chemist Anselme Payen,^[2] although Etymonline and Klein name Payen himself.^[8][7] The OED sees no link with the earlier English adjective cellulose, cellular, from New Latin cellulōsus,^[2][5] while Barnhart and Etymonline treat the noun as a use of that adjective.^[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The chief constituent of the cell walls of plants: 1839, in the third edition of John Lindley's Introduction to Botany.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the English word to 1840^[8] and Barnhart to 1835.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The earlier adjective cellulose, consisting of cells, was used from 1752 to 1894.^[2][5][9] From 1876 the noun was also used of industrial preparations of cellulose, especially the nitrate and acetate used in paints, lacquers and plastics,^[2][5] while from 1928 to cellulose meant to coat with a cellulose paint or lacquer.^[2] German borrowed the French word in 1839, now spelled Zellulose.^[2] The ending -ose soon spread to many other chemical terms,^[7] and celluloid followed in the 19th century.^[10]

Timeline

• 1752 – adjective, consisting of cells (obsolete by 1894).^[2][5]
• 1839 – noun, the main constituent of plant cell walls.^[2][4]
• 1876 – an industrial cellulose compound, such as cellulose nitrate or acetate.^[2]
• 1928 – verb, to coat with a cellulose lacquer.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A polysaccharide made of long chains of glucose units, the main material of plant cell walls, used to make paper, rayon and film.^[11][4][2]
2. A compound or preparation of cellulose, especially the nitrate or acetate used in paints and lacquers.^[2][5]

Verb

1. To coat or treat with a cellulose preparation.^[4][2][5]

Adjective

1. Made of or containing cellulose: a cellulose sponge.^[4]
2. (obsolete, 1752–1894) Cellular, made up of cells.^[2][5]

Word family

• cellulosic
• carboxymethylcellulose
• cellophane
• cellulase
• hemicellulose
• hydrocellulose
• lignocellulose

Related words

• cell
• cellular
• celluloid
• glucose

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins