Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Elastomer
/ɪˈlæstəmər/noun
A polymer that stretches substantially and returns to its original shape, such as rubber or silicone.
The Greek roots
ἐλαστός
elastós
driven, beaten out
μέρος
méros
part, share
Literally: “springing-back parts”
The story of the word
Elastic was invented as a scientific word in the 1650s, from Greek ἐλαστικός, propulsive, and it first described the expansive push of a gas rather than the stretch of a band. Only later did it settle on solids that spring back. Elastomer was cut in the 1930s to name the class of polymers that do it, a word for rubber and everything that behaves like rubber.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 20th century
Same family
elasticpolymermonomer
In a sentence
The seal is a silicone elastomer, chosen because it stays flexible at low temperature.