Etymology

thermoplastic

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Today it means: Softening when heated and hardening when cooled, and thus able to be moulded, remelted, and remoulded. Full definition →

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

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷʰer-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gʷʰermos
  3. Proto-Hellenic*kʷʰermós
  4. Ancient Greekθερμός (thermós)
  5. Englishthermo-
  6. Proto-Hellenic*plátʰyō
  7. Proto-Hellenic*plát͏̌t͏̌ō?
  8. Ancient Greekπλάσσω (plássō)
  9. Ancient Greekπλᾰστῐκός (plăstĭkós)
  10. Latinplasticus
  11. Englishplastic
  12. English todaythermoplastic

From thermo- + plastic.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.