Etymology

diphenylcyanoarsine

Today it means: A chemical compound that forms colourless, garlic-smelling crystals and causes nausea and headaches, used as a weapon by the Germans during World War I. Full definition →

English arsine ← Middle English arsenik ← Middle French arsenic
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dwi-
  3. Proto-Hellenic*dwi-
  4. Ancient Greekδῐ- (dĭ-)
  5. Latindi-
  6. Englishdi-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*bʰh₂nyéti
  9. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáňňō
  10. Ancient Greekφαίνω (phaínō)
  11. Frenchphéno-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*swel-der.?
  13. Ancient Greekῡ̔́λη (hū́lē)
  14. Frenchphényle
  15. Englishphenyl
  16. Englishdiphenyl
  17. Proto-Indo-European*ḱwey-
  18. Proto-Hellenic*kúwanos
  19. Ancient Greekκῠ́ᾰνος (kŭ́ănos)
  20. Ancient Greekκῠᾰ́νεος (kŭắneos)
  21. Englishcyano-
  22. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰelh₃-
  23. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰl̥h₃enyom
  24. Proto-Indo-Iranian*ȷ́ʰr̥Hanyam
  25. Proto-Iranian*jr̥Hanyam
  26. Old Median*zaranyam
  27. Old Median*kā
  28. Old Median*zaraniyakā
  29. Middle Persian*zarnīk
  30. Classical Syriacܙܪܢܝܟܐ (zarnīḵā)
  31. Arabicالزَرْنِيخ (az-zarnīḵ)
  32. Medieval Greekἀρσενικόν (arsenikón)
  33. Latinarsenicum
  34. Middle Frencharsenic
  35. Middle Englisharsenik
  36. Englisharsenic
  37. Englisharsine
  38. English todaydiphenylcyanoarsine

From diphenyl + cyano- + arsine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.