Earth & SkyGreek → English
Graphite
/ˈɡræfaɪt/noun
A soft grey form of carbon used in pencils, lubricants and reactor moderators.
The Greek roots
γράφειν
gráphein
to write, scratch
Literally: “the writing stone”
Follow a root:γράφειν39 words
The story of the word
Abraham Gottlob Werner named it in 1789, choosing the Greek verb for writing because the mineral's whole use was making marks. Until then it was called plumbago or black lead, and the mistake survives in the phrase lead pencil, which contains no lead at all. Pencil graphite from the Borrowdale mine in Cumbria was so valuable it was guarded by armed men.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1789
Same family
graphphotographbiographyparagraph
In a sentence
Graphite dust from the sharpener had greyed the whole desk drawer.