Etymology

argon

A1R1G2O1N1

Today it means: The chemical element (symbol Ar) with an atomic number of 18. The third most abundant gas in the Earth's atmosphere, it is a colourless, odourless, inert noble gas. Full definition →

English carbonbf. ← French carbone ← Latin carbōnem
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*ə-
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓- (ă-)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*wérǵom
  7. Proto-Hellenic*wérgon
  8. Ancient Greekἔργον (érgon)
  9. Ancient Greekᾱ̓ργός (ārgós)
  10. Proto-Indo-European*kerh₃-der.?
  11. Latincarbōnem
  12. Frenchcarbone
  13. Englishcarbonbf.
  14. English todayargon

From Ancient Greek ἀργός (argós, “idle, lazy”), because of its inertness, + -on, used for all noble gases.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.