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ozone

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Etymology and origin of the French word ozone

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1840 Schönbein, Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences More words from the 19th century
Borrowed from
German Ozon
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek ὄζω

Pronunciation

Forms

ozone m (plural ozones)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Ozon, coined in 1840 by the chemist Christian Friedrich Schönbein on the present participle of Ancient Greek ὄζω (ózō, “to give off a smell”), because of the gas's sharp smell.[2][3][4][5][6] Rey describes the French word as created at the same time as the German one.[3] The Greek verb also underlies ozène, and belongs to the Indo-European root of Latin odor, whence odeur.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The BHVF finds it in 1840 in Schönbein's own French, in the Comptes rendus of the Académie des sciences, where he proposes the name ozone for the smelling principle; the TLFi's first record is Marignac (1845).[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Littré still defined it as the smell given off under electric discharges, and the oxygen in that state.[8] Today it names the bluish gas O₃, a strong-smelling form of oxygen present in small amounts in the upper atmosphere.[2][9][3] From about 1989 worries over the thinning of the couche d'ozone made the word far more common, in phrases such as trou dans la couche d'ozone.[3][9] Its derivatives were all formed before 1900: ozoniser (1845), ozonisation (1857), ozoniseur (1874) and ozoner (1874).[3]

Timeline

  • 1840 – Schönbein proposes the name in the Comptes rendus.[7][5]
  • 1845 – Marignac writes on the nature of ozône;[2][3] ozonisé appears.[2][3]
  • 1855 – Nysten's medical dictionary records it.[10][11]
  • 1857 – Ozonisation is recorded.[3]
  • c. 1989 – Trou dans la couche d'ozone spreads with ecological concerns.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (chemistry) Ozone, a bluish, strong-smelling gas whose molecule has three oxygen atoms (O₃), a powerful oxidant.[2][9][1]
  2. Couche d'ozone: the ozone layer of the upper atmosphere, which absorbs much of the sun's ultraviolet light.[9][2]

Word family

  • ozoniser
  • ozonisation
  • ozoniseur
  • ozoner

Usage notes

Both /ozon/ and /ɔzɔn/ are heard.[9][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 453b
  7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  11. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Ozone.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/ozone. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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