Earth & SkyGreek → English
Asbestos
/æsˈbɛstɒs/noun
A fibrous silicate mineral once used for fireproofing and now known to cause fatal lung disease.
The Greek roots
ἄ-
a-
not, without
σβεστός
sbestós
quenched, extinguished
Literally: “unquenchable”
The story of the word
Ἄσβεστος means inextinguishable and the Greeks used it of unquenchable fire, not of a rock. Ancient writers describe a stone cloth that could be cleaned by throwing it into flames, but they called it λίθος ἀμίαντος, the undefiled stone. Pliny appears to have muddled the two terms, and the mistranslation stuck for two thousand years.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
asbestosis
In a sentence
The survey found asbestos in the boiler room lagging, so the school closed for a term.