Etymology

zeolite

Z10E1O1L1I1T1E1

Today it means: Any of several minerals, aluminosilicates of sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium, that have a porous structure (originally, those which swelled and gave off water when heated); they are used in water softeners, in ion exchange chromatography, and as industrial catalysts. Full definition →

First used 18th c.Swedish zeolit ← New Latin zeolites ← Ancient Greek ζέω
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromζέω“to boil, bubble”
  2. New Latin · derived fromzeolites
  3. Swedish · derived fromzeolit
  4. English todayzeolite

From Swedish zeolit, and its source, New Latin zeolites, from Ancient Greek ζέω (zéō, “to boil, bubble”) + -lite.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekζέω all →

zeon

First known use, by meaning

  • from 18th c. Any of several minerals, aluminosilicates of sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium, that have a porous structure (originally, those which swelled and gave off water when heated); they are used in water softeners, in ion exchange chromatography, and as industrial catalysts.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.