carbon

B2 Topic:Environment & Ecology

US /ˈkɑɹ.bən/ UK /ˈkɑːbən/ See IPA manual

Freq #5799

Meanings

1

noun
A chemical element (symbol C) found in all living things, and in forms such as graphite and diamond.

All known life uses carbon as the basic building block of its molecules.
2

noun
Carbon dioxide, especially when talking about pollution and the environment.

The company is trying to reduce its carbon emissions.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms carbonaceouscarbons

Derived forms anticarbonbenzyloxycarbonylbiocarboncarb-carbapenemcarbinolcarbinylcarbo-carbogencarboloycarbon-basedcarbon-copy

Related forms carbonaceouscarbonadecarbonadocarbonaracarbonaricarbonate carboniferouscarbonifycarbonigenouscarbuncle

Etymology

Borrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, carbōnem (“charcoal, coal”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (“to burn”). By surface analysis, carbo- + -on.

carbō Latin *kerh₃- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

External links

# carbon

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɑɹ.bən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkɑːbən/
**Frequency rank:** 5799

## Meanings
1. A chemical element (symbol C) found in all living things, and in forms such as graphite and diamond.
2. Carbon dioxide, especially when talking about pollution and the environment.

## Examples
- All known life uses carbon as the basic building block of its molecules.
- The company is trying to reduce its carbon emissions.

## Derived Forms
- anticarbon
- benzyloxycarbonyl
- biocarbon
- carb-
- carbapenem
- carbinol
- carbinyl
- carbo-
- carbogen
- carboloy
- carbon-based
- carbon-copy

## Related Forms
- carbonaceous
- carbonade
- carbonado
- carbonara
- carbonari
- carbonate
- carboniferous
- carbonify
- carbonigenous
- carbuncle

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: carbō
- Root: *kerh₃-

## Etymology
Borrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, carbōnem (“charcoal, coal”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (“to burn”). By surface analysis, carbo- + -on.

## AI Etymology
carbon is a noun. It was borrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, carbōnem (“charcoal, coal”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (“to burn”). By surface analysis, carbo- + -on. Historical forms in the chain include carbō (Latin) and *kerh₃- (Proto-Indo-European). Current senses include a chemical element (symbol C) found in all living things, and in forms such as graphite and diamond and carbon dioxide, especially when talking about pollution and the environment. Derived forms include anticarbon, benzyloxycarbonyl, biocarbon, carb-, and carbapenem. Related words include carbonaceous, carbonade, carbonado, and carbonara.

## Topics
- Environment & Ecology

markdown

carbon

Meanings

Thesaurus

Common collocations

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback