Earth & SkyGreek → English
Anatase
/ˈænəteɪs/noun
A tetragonal form of titanium dioxide, chemically identical to rutile but built on a different crystal lattice.
The Greek roots
ἀνάτασις
anátasis
a stretching upward
Literally: “stretching upward”
Follow a root:ἀνάτασις1 word
The story of the word
Haüy named it in 1801 for the crystals, which run to tall steep pyramids far longer than those of the other titanium dioxide minerals. The root verb, teinein, to stretch, also underlies tone, tetanus and the hypotenuse, the line stretched under the right angle. Anatase is the form ground into white pigment and spread on self-cleaning glass.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
hypotenusetetanustonetonic
In a sentence
The coating is anatase, and sunlight is what makes it break down the grime.