Where does “magnet” come from?
Magnet comes from Old French magnete, from Latin magnes, from Ancient Greek μαγνήτης λίθος, literally "stone of Magnesia," a region in Thessaly.
magnet (English): A piece of material that attracts some metals by...
Definitions
- A piece of material that attracts some metals by...
Ancestry of “magnet”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | magnete | lodestone |
| 2 | Old French | magnete | magnetite |
| 3 | Latin | magnētum | — |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μαγνῆτις | — |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | Μαγνησία | Magnesia |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -ῐ́ᾱ | {{l|en|-ia}}; "suffix forming abstract feminine... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -íh₂ | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -h₂ | Creates collective nouns, which refer to groups... |