hydrogen English · revision 10669

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1791|origins=fr hydrogène}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈhaɪ.drə.dʒən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|hydrogène]], coined in 1787 by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet and Fourcroy,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Greek hudr-, the stem of [[m|grc|ὕδωρ|tr=húdōr|t=water]] (see [[water]]), and -gène, producing (see [[-gen]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) because water is formed when it burns.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The gaseous element: 1791, in Erasmus Darwin's Botanic Garden, as hydrogene;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Merriam-Webster gives 1788.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The element had been isolated in 1766 by the English chemist Henry Cavendish,^(Barnhart 1988) and an earlier English name for it was Cavendish's inflammable air (1767).^(Etymonline) German calls it Wasserstoff, “water stuff”, and Russian vodorod, both on the same model.^(Etymonline) ''Hydrogenate'' is from 1809,^(Barnhart 1988) the ''hydrogen bomb'' is first recorded in 1947,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and ''H-bomb'' from 1950.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1767 – inflammable air.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1787 – French hydrogène.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1791 – hydrogen.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1809 – hydrogenate.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1947 – hydrogen bomb.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A colourless, odourless, highly flammable gas, the lightest and most abundant [[element]] in the universe, which combines with [[oxygen]] to form water.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hydrogenous]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hydrate]]

+ * [[hydr-]]

+ * [[hydro-]]

+ * [[hydride]]

+ * [[hydrogenase]]

+ * [[hydronium]]

+ * [[water]]

+ * [[hydraulic]]

+ * [[oxygen]]

+ * [[nitrogen]]

+ * [[-gen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}