Etymology

tetraoxygen

T1E1T1R1A1O1X8Y4G2E1N1

Today it means: an allotrope of oxygen having four atoms in each molecule instead of the normal two; only stable under very high pressures Full definition →

English oxygen ← French oxygène ← Ancient Greek γένος (génos)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwóres
  2. Proto-Hellenic*kʷétwores
  3. Ancient Greekτέσσᾰρες (téssăres)
  4. Ancient Greekτετρᾰ- (tetră-)
  5. Englishtetra-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-der.?
  7. Ancient Greekὀξύς (oxús)
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*ǵénh₁os
  10. Proto-Hellenic*génos
  11. Ancient Greekγένος (génos)
  12. Frenchoxygène
  13. Englishoxygen
  14. English todaytetraoxygen

From tetra- + oxygen.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.