The story
- Latin · derived fromvitreus“glassy, transparent”
- Middle French · derived fromvitreux
- English todayvitreous
From Middle French vitreux, from Latin vitreus (“glassy, transparent”), from vitrum (“glass”). The terms vitreous (positive) and resinous (negative) electricity were coined in 1733 by Charles François de Cisternay du Fay, who studied the different behaviour of glass and resin when rubbed with silk and fur, respectively.
Words from the same roots
Middle Frenchvitreux all →
vitreo-
Latinvitreus all →
vitrainvitreo-
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.