The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
- Ancient Greekἐν (en)
- Ancient Greekἐν- (en-)
- Proto-Indo-European*werǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*wérǵom
- Proto-Hellenic*wérgon
- Ancient Greekἔργον (érgon)
- Ancient Greekἐνεργός (energós)
- Ancient Greekἐνεργής (energḗs)
- Ancient Greekἐνέργεια (enérgeia)
- Late Latinenergīa
- Middle Frenchénergie
- English todayenergy
From Middle French énergie, from Late Latin energia, from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια (enérgeia, “activity”), from ἐνεργός (energós, “active”), from ἐν (en, “in”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”). The sense in physics was coined by English polymath Thomas Young in 1802 in his lectures on Natural Philosophy.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.