Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Oxygen
The element essential to respiration, symbol O.
The Greek roots
ὀξύς
oxýs
sharp, acid
γενής
-genḗs
forming
Literally: “acid-former”
The story of the word
Mistakenly thought to be the essential ingredient of all acids, it was dubbed the 'acid-former'.
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
In a sentence
Every breath draws oxygen deep into the lungs.