Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Elastic
/ɪˈlæstɪk/adjective
Able to return to its original shape after being stretched or squeezed.
The Greek roots
ἐλαστικός
elastikós
driving, propulsive
Literally: “driving, propelling”
Follow a root:ἐλαστικός1 word
The story of the word
The Greek adjective means driving rather than stretchy, and seventeenth-century natural philosophers used elasticus for the springiness of compressed air, the force that drives back. The rubber sense only became everyday after vulcanisation in 1839 made elastic thread practical for clothing. Economists borrowed the word in the late nineteenth century for demand that gives under price, which is the same metaphor run a second time.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
elasticityelastinelastomer
In a sentence
The waistband had lost every bit of its elastic after two summers.