Etymology

anthracene

A1N1T1H4R1A1C3E1N1E1

Today it means: A tricyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (an acene containing three fused rings) obtained from coal tar; used in the manufacture of wood preservatives, insecticides and the dye alizarin; it is isomeric with phenanthrene. Full definition →

French anthracène ← Ancient Greek ἄνθραξ
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἄνθραξ“coal”
  2. French · borrowed fromanthracène
  3. English todayanthracene

Borrowed from French anthracène, coined by its co-discoverer Auguste Laurent in 1837, from Ancient Greek ἄνθραξ (ánthrax, “coal”) + -ene. By surface analysis, anthrac- + -ene.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekἄνθραξ all →

anthraxanthra-anthraco-anthracomancy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.