The story
- Proto-Indo-European*kerh₃-der.?
- Latincarbōnem
- Frenchcarbone
- Englishcarbon
- Englishcarbo-
- Proto-Indo-European*wed-
- Proto-Indo-European*wódr̥
- Proto-Hellenic*údōr
- Ancient Greekῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)
- Ancient Greekὑδρο- (hudro-)
- Frenchhydr-
- Frenchhydrate
- Englishhydrate
- English todaycarbohydrate
From their general formula Cₙ(H₂O)ₙ; they were once thought to be hydrates of carbon.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.