Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “elastic” come from?

Elastic comes from French élastique, from Latin elasticus, from Ancient Greek ἐλατός meaning "driven or set in motion."

elastic (English): Capable of stretching; particularly, capable of...

Definitions

  1. Capable of stretching; particularly, capable of...

Ancestry of “elastic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchélastiqueelastic; rubber band
2Ancient Greekἐλαστόςductile, flexible
3Ancient Greekἐλατόςductile
4Ancient Greekἐλαύνωdrive, set in motion; ride a horse, drive a...
5Ancient Greek-τόςcreates verbal adjectives of possibility, either...
6Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems

Words derived from “elastic”

  • elasticity
  • inelastic
  • viscoelastic
  • elastin
  • elastomer
  • elastically
  • elastomeric
  • elastase
  • viscoelasticity
  • inelasticity
  • poroelastic
  • thermoelastic
  • hyperelastic
  • inelastically
  • photoelastic
  • superelastic
  • aeroelastic
  • photoelasticity
  • elastosis
  • anelastic
  • pseudoelastic
  • unelastic
  • hyperelasticity
  • nonelastic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tós →