Everyday LifeGreek → English
Margarine
/ˌmɑːdʒəˈriːn/noun
A butter substitute made from vegetable or animal fats.
The Greek roots
μάργαρον
márgaron
pearl
Literally: “pearly stuff”
Follow a root:μάργαρον1 word
The story of the word
Michel Chevreul named margaric acid in 1813 for the pearly lustre of its crystals, using the Greek word for pearl. When Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès won Napoleon III's competition for a cheap butter in 1869, he called his product oleomargarine after that acid, and the trade clipped it. Margaric acid was later shown not to be a distinct substance at all, so the pearl is doubly borrowed. Margaret is the same word.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1870s
Same family
Margaretmargaritemarguerite
In a sentence
My grandmother refused margarine on principle and kept butter in the cold pantry.