Etymology

microplastic

mi·cro·plas·tic
M3I1C3R1O1P3L1A1S1T1I1C3

Today it means: Small particles of plastic (typically less than 5 mm) produced by the degradation of plastic products, found in high levels in the marine environment and increasingly throughout all environments and in food and drinks. Full definition →

English plastic ← Latin plasticus ← Ancient Greek πλᾰστῐκός (plăstĭkós)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mey-der.?
  2. Ancient Greekμῑκρός (mīkrós)
  3. Ancient Greekμῑκρο- (mīkro-)
  4. Englishmicro-
  5. Proto-Hellenic*plátʰyō
  6. Proto-Hellenic*plát͏̌t͏̌ō?
  7. Ancient Greekπλάσσω (plássō)
  8. Ancient Greekπλᾰστῐκός (plăstĭkós)
  9. Latinplasticus
  10. Englishplastic
  11. English todaymicroplastic

From micro- + plastic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.