Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Magnet
/ˈmæɡnɪt/noun
A body that pulls iron towards it and lines itself up in a magnetic field.
The Greek roots
Μαγνῆτις λίθος
Magnêtis líthos
stone of Magnesia
Literally: “the Magnesian stone”
Follow a root:μαγνῆτις λίθος3 words
The story of the word
The stone is named after Magnesia, though ancient sources cannot agree whether that means the district in Thessaly or the town in Lydia; lodestone was dug in that part of the world. Pliny preferred a shepherd called Magnes whose iron-nailed boots stuck to the hillside, which nobody now believes. The same place-name gave chemistry magnesium and manganese, two metals that spent centuries being mistaken for each other.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 15th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
magnetismmagnesiummanganesemagneto
In a sentence
The fridge magnet held four school notices and a shopping list.
A strong enough magnet will wipe the tape entirely.