Etymology

phosphate

P3H4O1S1P3H4A1T1E1

Today it means: Any salt or ester of phosphoric acid. Full definition →

French phosphate ← Latin phōsphorus ← Ancient Greek φωσφόρος (phōsphóros)
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phosphate · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
  4. Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
  5. Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
  6. Proto-Indo-European*bʰer-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéreti
  8. Proto-Hellenic*pʰérō
  9. Ancient Greekφέρω (phérō)
  10. Ancient Greekφωσφόρος (phōsphóros)
  11. Latinphōsphorus
  12. Frenchphosphore
  13. Frenchphosphate
  14. English todayphosphate

From French phosphate. By surface analysis, phosphoric acid + -ate (“salt or ester”).

phosphate · verb2

From phosphoric acid + -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.