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Agar

3 stages from Malay to English.

Today it means a gel from red seaweed used in food and to grow microbes

Where does the word "agar" come from? It comes from Malay agar-agar, passing through German before entering English (1880s).

agar-agar→Agar→agar

"seaweed jelly"

a jelly made from red seaweed, used in cooking across the Malay world and in Java under Dutch rule

"bacterial culture medium"

Fanny Hesse, who knew agar jelly from a Dutch neighbour who had lived in Java, suggested it to Robert Koch's lab in Berlin as a solid medium for growing bacteria

English · 1880s

"gel used to culture microbes"

spread with Koch's methods; Julius Petri's shallow dish of 1887 was designed to hold it

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Agar’s story begins in Malay: agar-agar meant “seaweed jelly.” A jelly made from red seaweed, used in cooking across the Malay world and in Java under Dutch rule. By 1881, the word had taken hold in German as Agar. Fanny Hesse, who knew agar jelly from a Dutch neighbour who had lived in Java, suggested it to Robert Koch's lab in Berlin as a solid medium for growing bacteria. It reached English by 1880s as agar. Spread with Koch's methods; Julius Petri's shallow dish of 1887 was designed to hold it. Today, agar means a gel from red seaweed used in food and to grow microbes.