Etymology

inositol

I1N1O1S1I1T1O1L1

Today it means: A simple carbocyclic sugar (hexahydroxycyclohexane; chemical formula: C₆H₁₂O₆) which occurs in animal and plant tissue. Once treated as part of the vitamin B complex, but is not a vitamin as it can be synthesized by the body. Full definition →

English alcohol ← Middle English alcofol ← Medieval Latin alcoho
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wéyHs
  2. Proto-Hellenic*wīs
  3. Ancient Greek*ϝῑ́ς (*wī́s)
  4. Ancient Greekῑ̓νός (īnós)
  5. Englishinosite
  6. Akkadian𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)
  7. Aramaicכוחלא (kuḥlā)
  8. Arabicكُحْل (kuḥl)
  9. Andalusian Arabicكُحُول (kuḥūl)
  10. Medieval Latinalcoho
  11. Middle Englishalcofol
  12. Englishalcohol
  13. English todayinositol

From its former name inosite + -ol (“an alcohol”), from Ancient Greek ἰνός (inós, genitive singular of ἴς (ís, “sinew, tendon”)) + -ite.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.