oxygen English · revision 6658

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1789|origins=grc ὀξύς}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɒksɪd͡ʒən/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɑksɪd͡ʒən/, /ˈɑksəd͡ʒən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|oxygène]], coined in 1777 by the French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|ὀξύς|tr=oxús|t=sharp, acid]] and French [[m|fr|-gène|t=producing]] (see [[-gen]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) meaning “acid-producer”, a rendering of [[m|fr|principe acidifiant|t=acidifying principle]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The element: 1789 in the OED, 1790 in Barnhart and Etymonline;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) MWU has 1788.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lavoisier chose the name because oxygen was then thought to be essential to the formation of acids, which is now known to be false.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) Priestley, who isolated the gas in 1774, called it ''dephlogisticated air'' in the terms of the old phlogiston theory, and its fall required a new name.^(Etymonline) The oxygen mask is from 1912,^(Etymonline) and an atom of oxygen is also called oxygen (1950).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1774 – isolated by Priestley.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1777 – French oxygène, coined by Lavoisier.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1789 – oxygen in English.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1912 – oxygen mask.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A colourless, odourless gaseous [[element]], symbol O, that makes up about a fifth of the [[atmosphere]] and is essential for [[respiration]] and [[combustion]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Something needed for growth or survival: ''the oxygen of publicity''.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[oxygenic]]

+ * [[oxygenically]]

+ * [[oxygenless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[hydroxy-]]

+ * [[hydroxyl]]

+ * [[oxide]]

+ * [[oxo-]]

+ * [[oxo]]

+ * [[oxy-]]

+ * [[oxy]]

+ * [[oxygenase]]

+ * [[oxygenate]]

+ * [[oxytocic]]

+ * [[acid]]

+ * [[acute]]

+ * [[hydrogen]]

+ * [[nitrogen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}