Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “molecule” come from?

Molecule derives from French molécule, from Latin moles meaning "mass" or "lump," with the diminutive suffix -culus, itself from -lus.

molecule (English): The smallest particle of a specific element or...

Definitions

  1. The smallest particle of a specific element or...

Ancestry of “molecule”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchmoléculemolecule
2New Latinmoleculaa molecule; molecule
3Latinmōlēs—

Words derived from “molecule”

  • molecular
  • intermolecular
  • macromolecular
  • intramolecular
  • supramolecular
  • macromolecule
  • biomolecular
  • molecularly
  • bimolecular
  • biomolecule
  • monomolecular
  • unimolecular
  • orthomolecular
  • turbomolecular
  • multimolecular
  • molecularity
  • supermolecular
  • equimolecular
  • supermolecule
  • molecularization
  • intramolecularly
  • nonmolecular
  • trimolecular
  • submolecular
Every word from Latin mōlēs →