Where does “arsenic” come from?

Arsenic comes from Middle French arsenic, from Latin arsenicum, from Ancient Greek ἀρσενικόν, from Middle Persian zarnīk, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European ǵʰelh₃i.

arsenic (English): A nonmetallic chemical element with an atomic...

Definitions

  1. A nonmetallic chemical element with an atomic...

Ancestry of “arsenic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englisharsenik—
2Middle Frencharsenic—
3Latinarsenicumarsenic
4Ancient Greekἀρσενικόνorpiment - arsenic sulphide; yellow arsenic
5Middle Persianzarnīk—
6Avestan𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬀gold; golden
7Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰelh₃i—

Words derived from “arsenic”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰelh₃i →