Etymology

quartz

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Today it means: The most abundant mineral on the earth's surface, of chemical composition silicon dioxide, SiO₂. It occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous. Found in every environment. Full definition →

German Quarz ← Proto-Slavic *tvьrdъ ← Proto-Indo-European *twerH-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*twerH-“to enclose, grab”
  2. Proto-Slavic · derived from*tvьrdъ
  3. German · borrowed fromQuarz
  4. English todayquartz

From German Quarz, from Middle High German (Central East German) quarz, twarc, from a West Slavic language [compare Polish twardy (“hard”), Czech tvrdý (“hard”)], from Proto-Slavic *tvьrdъ ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *twerH- (“to enclose, grab”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.