Etymology

hydrocarbon

H4Y4D2R1O1C3A1R1B3O1N1

Today it means: A compound consisting only of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Full definition →

English carbon ← French carbone ← Latin carbōnem
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wed-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wódr̥
  3. Proto-Hellenic*údōr
  4. Ancient Greekῡ̆̔́δωρ (hū̆́dōr)
  5. Ancient Greekῠ̔δρο- (hŭdro-)
  6. Englishhydro-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*kerh₃-der.?
  8. Latincarbōnem
  9. Frenchcarbone
  10. Englishcarbon
  11. English todayhydrocarbon

From hydro- + carbon.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.