Where does “pH” come from?
pH (English) comes from French puissance, from Middle French puissance, from Old French puissance, from Old French puissant, from Old French pooir, from Latin posso, from Finnish possu, from Finnish porsas — passed , crossed.
pH (English): Measure of the acidity (low pH) or basicity (high pH) of an aqueous solution, equal to the negative logarithm of the concentration of hydronium ions in molars
Definitions
- Measure of the acidity (low pH) or basicity (high pH) of an aqueous solution, equal to the negative logarithm of the concentration of hydronium ions in molars
Ancestry of “pH”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | puissance | power; dominion; to the power of |
| 2 | Middle French | puissance | power |
| 3 | Old French | puissance | power; ability; authority; might; strength |
| 4 | Old French | puissant | powerful; mighty |
| 5 | Old French | pooir | can; to be able to; power; ability; capability |
| 6 | Latin | posso | to be able |
| 7 | Finnish | possu | piggy, pig, piglet; a slovenly person; pork |
| 8 | Finnish | porsas | A piglet; Pork; A pig in the sense of messy,... |
| 9 | Proto-Finnic | porcas | piglet |
| 10 | Romanian | porc | pig (mammal of genus Sus), hog, swine |
| 11 | Latin | porcus | a piglet, a young pig; a pig, hog; Short for... |
| 12 | Proto-Italic | porkos | pig |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | pórḱos | piglet |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | perḱ- | colored; motley; to open, rip up |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |