Etymology

carbon

C3A1R1B3O1N1

Today it means: The chemical element (symbol C) with an atomic number of 6. It can be found in pure form for example as graphite, a black, shiny and very soft material, or diamond, a colourless, transparent, crystalline solid and the hardest known material. Full definition →

French carbone ← Latin carbō, carbōnem ← Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kerh₃-“to burn”
  2. Latin · derived fromcarbō, carbōnem“charcoal, coal”
  3. French · borrowed fromcarbone
  4. English todaycarbon

Borrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, carbōnem (“charcoal, coal”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (“to burn”).

Words from the same roots

Frenchcarbone all →

carbonado

Proto-Indo-European*kerh₃- all →

hearth

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.