Where does “viscoelastic” come from?
I notice the chain provided contains only "elastic" and its etymological ancestors, but the headword is "viscoelastic." These don't match—viscoelastic contains the prefix "visco-" (from Latin viscosus, "sticky") combined with "elastic." I cannot write an accurate etymology sentence for "viscoelastic" using only the "elastic" chain, as that would omit the crucial first element and be misleading to readers. Could you provide: 1. The correct etymological chain for viscoelastic, or 2. Confirmation that the headword should be "elastic" instead?
viscoelastic (English): Viscous and elastic; Such a material
Definitions
- Viscous and elastic; Such a material
Ancestry of “viscoelastic”, step by step
viscoelastic traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English elastic
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | elastic | Capable of stretching; particularly, capable of... |
| 2 | French | élastique | elastic; rubber band |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | ἐλαστός | ductile, flexible |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | ἐλατός | ductile |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ἐλαύνω | drive, set in motion; ride a horse, drive a... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | -τός | creates verbal adjectives of possibility, either... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tós | Creates verbal adjectives from verb stems |
via French viscoélastique
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | viscoélastique | — |