Etymology

instanton

I1N1S1T1A1N1T1O1N1

Today it means: A solution to the imaginary time nonlinear field equation of Yang-Mills theory; carries information about quantum tunnelling. Full definition →

English electronbf. ← Ancient Greek ἰόν (ión) ← Proto-Hellenic *éimi
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*énu
  2. Latinin-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*steh₂-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*sth₂éh₁yeti
  5. Proto-Italic*staējō
  6. Proto-Italic*staēō
  7. Latinstō
  8. Latinīnstō
  9. Latinīnstāns
  10. Old Frenchinstant
  11. Middle Englishinstant
  12. Englishinstant
  13. Ancient Greekἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron)
  14. Latinēlectrum
  15. New Latinēlectricus
  16. Englishelectric
  17. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ey-
  18. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éyti
  19. Proto-Hellenic*éimi
  20. Ancient Greekἰόν (ión)
  21. Englishion
  22. Englishelectronbf.
  23. English todayinstanton

From instant + -on.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.