Where does “inelastic” come from?
Inelastic comes from French inélastique, which combines the Latin prefix in- with élastique, derived from Ancient Greek ἐλατός meaning "driven" or "impelled."
inelastic (English): lacking elasticity; inflexible, unyielding
Definitions
- lacking elasticity; inflexible, unyielding
Ancestry of “inelastic”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | elastic | Capable of stretching; particularly, capable of... |
| 2 | French | élastique | elastic; rubber band |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | ἐλαστός | ductile, flexible |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | ἐλατός | ductile |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ἐλαύνω | drive, set in motion; ride a horse, drive a... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -τός | creates verbal adjectives of possibility, either... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |
Words derived from “inelastic”