gas English · revision 3277

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=coinage|attested=1658|origins=grc χάος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡæs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|nl|gas]], a word coined by the Flemish chemist Jan Baptista van Helmont (1577–1644),^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)^(Cresswell 2021) probably an alteration of [[grc|χάος|tr=kháos|t=empty space, chaos]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) since Dutch g sounds roughly like Greek ch.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Van Helmont was probably influenced by Paracelsus, who used kháos in an occult sense, “proper element of spirits”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Van Helmont wrote: “Hunc spiritum, incognitum hactenus, novo nomine gas voco” (“This vapour, hitherto unknown, I call by a new name, gas”).^(Etymonline) The sense “petrol”, American English by 1905, is a clipping of [[gasoline]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Van Helmont's occult principle supposed to be present in all bodies: 1658,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) or the 1650s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Van Helmont was the first to realize that there were gases other than air,^(Cresswell 2021) but the word did not catch on until much later.^(Cresswell 2021) The modern scientific sense, any substance that expands without limit, like air, began in 1779.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) It was then specialized to a combustible mixture used for fuel and light, coal gas, from 1794,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) an anaesthetic, nitrous oxide, from 1894,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and poison gas in war from 1900.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Intestinal gas is from 1882.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Weekley wrote that the success of this artificial word is unique.^(Etymonline) Slang “empty talk” is from 1847, and “something exciting or excellent” from 1953;^(Etymonline) in Anglo-Irish gas also meant “fun, a joke”, used by Joyce in 1914.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to supply with gas” in 1886, and “to poison with gas” from 1889, as a military attack from 1915.^(Etymonline) ''Gas pedal'' is by 1908 and ''gas station'' from 1916.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1658 – an occult principle (van Helmont).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1779 – the modern scientific sense.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1794 – coal gas.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1847 – empty talk (slang).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1882 – intestinal gas.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1889 – verb, to poison with gas.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1894 – an anaesthetic gas.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1900 – poison gas.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1905 – petrol (US).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1916 – ''gas station''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1953 – something exciting (slang).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A substance, like [[air]], that has no fixed shape or volume and expands to fill any container.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A gas or mixture of gases burned as [[fuel]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(North America)'' [[gasoline|alt=Gasoline]], petrol.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A gas used as an [[anaesthetic]], or as a poison in war.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Gas in the stomach or intestines; [[flatulence]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(slang)'' Empty talk; something very enjoyable.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To kill or harm with poison gas.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(North America)'' To fill a car with petrol.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(informal)'' To talk idly.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gasless]]

+ * [[avgas]]

+ * [[gas-guzzler]]

+ * [[gasohol]]

+ * [[gas oil]]

+ * [[gas pedal]]

+ * [[gas station]]

+ * [[gas tank]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chaos]]

+ * [[gasoline]]

+ * [[gaseous]]

+ * [[gasify]]

+ * [[gasometer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}