azote

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*né
2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
3. Proto-Hellenic*ə-
4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓- (ă-)
5. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
6. Proto-Indo-European*gʷih₃wós
7. Proto-Indo-European*gʷíh₃weti
8. Proto-Hellenic*gʷyṓw-ō
9. Proto-Hellenic*d͏̌ṓwō
10. Ancient Greekζώω (zṓō)
11. Ancient Greekζῶ (zô)
12. Ancient Greekζωή (zōḗ)
13. Frenchazote
14. English todayazote

Borrowed from French azote, from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “without”) + ζωή (zōḗ, “life”) + -τικός (-tikós, “adjective suffix”). Named by French chemist and biologist Antoine Lavoisier, who saw it as the part of air which cannot sustain life.

Words from the same roots