laboratory

Where does the word "laboratory" come from? It comes from Latin laborare, and was adopted directly into English (1590s).

Laboratory’s story begins in Latin: laborare meant “to work.” 'to work, toil', from labor. It reached English by 1590s as laboratory. Via Medieval Latin laboratorium, a workshop, often an alchemist's; Justus von Liebig's teaching laboratory at Giessen, opened in 1824, became the model for university science labs. Today, laboratory means a room or building equipped for scientific experiments.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · classical laborare "to work", 'to work, toil', from labor.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1590s laboratory "place for experiments", via Medieval Latin laboratorium, a workshop, often an alchemist's; Justus von Liebig's teaching laboratory at Giessen, opened in 1824, became the model for university science labs.