Etymology

polystyrene

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Today it means: A vinylic polymer of styrene, CH₂CHphenyl. Full definition →

English styrene ← Latin styrax ← Ancient Greek στύραξ (stúrax)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pleh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*polh₁ús
  3. Ancient Greekπολῠ́ς (polŭ́s)
  4. Englishpoly-
  5. Ancient Greekστύραξ (stúrax)
  6. Latinstyrax
  7. Englishstyrene
  8. English todaypolystyrene

From poly- + styrene.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.