Etymology Explorer › Middle French

Where does “arsenic” come from?

arsenic (Middle French) comes from Latin arsenicum, from Ancient Greek ἀρσενικόν, from Middle Persian zarnīk, from Avestan 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬀, from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰelh₃i.

Ancestry of “arsenic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinarsenicumarsenic
2Ancient Greekἀρσενικόνorpiment - arsenic sulphide; yellow arsenic
3Middle Persianzarnīk—
4Avestan𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬀gold; golden
5Proto-Indo-Europeanǵʰelh₃i—

Words derived from “arsenic”

  • arsenic
  • arsenate
  • arsenicosis
  • arsenous
  • arsphenamine
  • arsonic
  • arsenicism
  • organoarsenic
  • neoarsphenamine
  • arsenian
  • arseniferous
  • pyroarsenate
  • pyroarsenic
  • tetraarsenic
  • diarsenic
  • arsenication
  • arsole
  • iridarsenite
  • postarsphenamine
  • diarsole
  • alarsite
  • arsenoan
  • arsenatian
  • sulphoarsenic
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵʰelh₃i →