Where does “racemic” come from?
Racemic comes from French racémique, derived from Latin racemus meaning "bunch of grapes," referring to the clustered arrangement of atoms in such compounds.
racemic (English): containing equal amounts of dextrorotatory and...
Definitions
- containing equal amounts of dextrorotatory and...
Ancestry of “racemic”, step by step
racemic traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French racémique
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | racémique | racemic |
| 2 | French | -ique | Used to form adjectives from nouns: -ic, -ical,... |
| 3 | Middle French | -ique | ic |
| 4 | Old French | -ique | -ic |
| 5 | Latin | -icus | belonging to; derived from; of or pertaining to;... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | *-ikos | forms adjectives with the sense of 'of or pertaining to' |