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Where does the word "xenon" come from? It comes from Greek xenos, and was adopted directly into English (1898).
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Where does the word "xenon" come from? It comes from Greek xenos, and was adopted directly into English (1898).
Xenon’s story begins in Greek: xenos meant “a stranger, foreigner.” Literally stranger, foreign, describing the rare, unfamiliar gas. It reached English by 1898 as xenon. Coined by its discoverers for the rare inert gas. Today, xenon means a rare, colorless, inert gaseous element used in some lighting and flash lamps.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient xenos "a stranger, foreigner", literally stranger, foreign, describing the rare, unfamiliar gas.
- Stage 2 · English · 1898 xenon "a rare inert gaseous element", coined by its discoverers for the rare inert gas.