Etymologically
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elastic

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Pronunciation

  • /ɪˈlæstɪk/, /ə-/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin elasticus,[2][3][4][5] used by the French scientist Jean Pecquet to describe the expansive force of gases,[6] in his “Dissertatio Anatomica” (1651), where the phrase New Latin elastica virtus denotes the "impulsive force" of the air.[2] Etymonline describes it as coined as a scientific term in French in the 1650s.[3] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek ἐλαστικός (elastikós, “driving, propulsive”),[2][7][8][6][9] or from ἐλαστός (elastós, “beaten, ductile”), a variant of ἐλατός (elatós),[4][10][11][5] from ἐλαύνω (elaúnō, “to drive, strike, beat out”),[2][3][4][6] which is of uncertain origin;[3][5] Etymonline cites Watkins for an extended form of Proto-Indo-European *ele- (“to go”).[3] Partridge and Klein compare an Armenian verb meaning "to go forth".[12][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pertaining to or causing the "spontaneous" expansion of air or gases, in the phrase elastic force: 1653, in a translation of Pecquet's New Anatomical Experiments.[2][5][9]

Semantic evolution

The word was first applied to the way a gas expands to fill whatever space is available; at the time some thought gas particles acted like coiled springs, which helped the word towards its modern sense.[13][6] From 1674, in William Petty, it was used of any substance that returns to its shape or size after being stretched or compressed;[2][5] Merriam-Webster also dates this sense to 1674,[10] and Ayto places the shift towards the end of the 17th century.[6] The earlier gas senses merged into it.[2] Figurative uses followed: of feelings and people, buoyant, quick to recover (1786),[2] of motion, springy (1848),[2] and of immaterial things, flexible or easily stretched to suit the case (1859).[2][3] In popular use it came to mean stretchable, of fabrics (1781),[2] and the noun, a cord or string woven with rubber, is first recorded in American English in 1847;[5][3][10][2] the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins cites an early mention of "elastic Parisian corsets".[13] Blackmore used it once (1712) in its etymological sense "propulsive".[2]

Timeline

  • 1653 – of the expansive force of air or gases.[2][5]
  • 1674 – of solids, springing back to shape after deformation.[2][5][10]
  • 1781 – of fabrics, able to be stretched.[2]
  • 1786 – figurative, of feelings or people, buoyant.[2]
  • 1847 – noun, an elastic cord or string, in American English.[5][2][10]
  • 1849 – elastic tissue, in anatomy.[2]
  • 1859 – figurative, of immaterial things, flexible.[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a material, able to return to its original shape or size after being stretched, squeezed or bent; resilient or springy.[14][10][2]
  2. Made of or containing elastic: an elastic waistband.[14][2]
  3. Able to be stretched or adapted to circumstances; flexible: an elastic deadline.[14][2]
  4. Quick to recover from fatigue or low spirits; buoyant.[14][2]
  5. (physics) Of a gas, able to expand indefinitely; of a collision, involving no loss of kinetic energy.[14][10]

Noun

  1. A tape, cord or fabric woven with strands of rubber so that it stretches.[14][10][2]
  2. Something made of elastic, such as a garter or a band of stretchy rubber.[10]

Word family

  • elastically
  • elasticity
  • elasticize
  • isoelastic
  • aeroelastic
  • elastance
  • elastin
  • elastomer
  • elater

References

  1. ^ 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 r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  12. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  13. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins