aspirin

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

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.

1. Stage 1 · New Latin · 1700s Spiraea "meadowsweet", the meadowsweet genus, from Greek speiraia; salicylic acid was first obtained from meadowsweet (then Spiraea ulmaria) in 1839.
2. Stage 2 · German · 1899 Aspirin "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 · English · 1899 aspirin "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.