Photosynthesis
/ˌfoʊtoʊˈsɪnθəsɪs/noun
The process by which plants build sugars from carbon dioxide and water using light.
The Greek roots
Literally: “putting together by light”
The story of the word
The American botanist Charles Reid Barnes proposed a name for the process in 1893, and his own preference was photosyntax; his colleagues took the other option he had floated and photosynthesis stuck. σύνθεσις is a builder's and a grammarian's word, the placing of parts together, which is exactly right for a reaction that assembles sugar out of gas. Before the name existed the phenomenon had been demonstrated for over a century, since Priestley found in 1771 that a sprig of mint restored air a candle had spoiled.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1893
Same family
In a sentence
The tank algae bloomed once the lamp ran long enough for photosynthesis to outpace the fish.