Where does “lignin” come from?
Lignin comes from English -in (a chemistry suffix) added to a root from Proto-Indo-European leǵ-, meaning to collect or gather, which also produced words for wood and legal concepts.
lignin (English): A complex non-carbohydrate aromatic polymer...
Definitions
- A complex non-carbohydrate aromatic polymer...
Ancestry of “lignin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | līgnum | firewood |
| 2 | English | polygonum | Any of many plants, of the family Polygonaceae,... |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | πολύς | many, a lot of; neuter πολύ or πολλά as... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | πόρος | a means of passage, passageway, way, opening;... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | πείρω | I pierce, run through; I cleave through |
| 6 | Proto-Hellenic | *péryō | — |