Etymology Map
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Aspirin

3 stages from New Latin to English.

Today it means a drug used to relieve pain and reduce fever and inflammation

Where does the word "aspirin" come from? It comes from New Latin Spiraea, passing through German before entering English (1899).

1
Stage 1 of 3
Spiraea
New Latin · 1700s
"meadowsweet"
the meadowsweet genus, from Greek speiraia; salicylic acid was first obtained from meadowsweet (then Spiraea ulmaria) in 1839
2
Stage 2 of 3
Aspirin
German · 1899
"acetylsalicylic acid"
Bayer's trademark: a- (acetyl) + spir- (Spiraea) + -in; the chemist Felix Hoffmann synthesised pure acetylsalicylic acid at Bayer in 1897
3
Stage 3 of 3
aspirin
English · 1899
"painkiller"
after World War I Bayer lost the trademark in Britain, France and the US under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, and it became a common noun
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Read the full story

Aspirin’s story begins in New Latin: Spiraea meant “meadowsweet.” The meadowsweet genus, from Greek speiraia; salicylic acid was first obtained from meadowsweet (then Spiraea ulmaria) in 1839. By 1899, the word had taken hold in German as Aspirin. Bayer's trademark: a- (acetyl) + spir- (Spiraea) + -in; the chemist Felix Hoffmann synthesised pure acetylsalicylic acid at Bayer in 1897. It reached English by 1899 as aspirin. After World War I Bayer lost the trademark in Britain, France and the US under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, and it became a common noun. Today, aspirin means a drug used to relieve pain and reduce fever and inflammation.