Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “chlorine” come from?

Chlorine comes from Ancient Greek χλωρός meaning greenish-yellow, traced to Proto-Indo-European ǵʰelh₃-.

chlorine (English): A toxic, green, gaseous chemical element with an...

Definitions

  1. A toxic, green, gaseous chemical element with an...

Ancestry of “chlorine”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ineOf or pertaining to; Used to form demonyms;...
2French-inefeminine singular of -in; female equivalent of...
3French-épast participle root verb suffix of regular -er...
4Middle French-é—
5Old French-éused to form past participles of regular -er...
6Latin-asuffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent...
7Proto-Italic-ā—
8Proto-Indo-European-éh₂—

Words derived from “chlorine”

  • chloride
  • hydrochloride
  • tetrachloride
  • chlorination
  • organochlorine
  • bichloride
  • perchloride
  • trichloride
  • dichloride
  • oxychloride
  • dechlorination
  • pentachloride
  • dihydrochloride
  • protochloride
  • monochloride
  • subchloride
  • hexachloride
  • chlorinate
  • chlorinator
  • chlorinity
  • bacteriochlorin
  • monohydrochloride
  • organochloride
  • dechlorinate
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂ →