argon

Where does the word "argon" come from? It comes from Greek argos, and was adopted directly into English (1894).

Argon’s story begins in Greek: argos meant “idle, inactive.” Literally lazy, inactive, describing the gas's chemical unreactivity. It reached English by 1894 as argon. Coined by its discoverers for the newly isolated inert gas. Today, argon means a colorless, odorless, inert gaseous chemical element.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient argos "idle, inactive", literally lazy, inactive, describing the gas's chemical unreactivity.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1894 argon "an inert gaseous element", coined by its discoverers for the newly isolated inert gas.