From names to wordsScience, ideas & the arts

magnet

Greeks called the lodestone 'the Magnesian stone', after Magnesia, where iron-attracting rocks were found. Latin magnēs, Middle English magnete and modern magnet keep the place name hidden inside — and so do Arabic maġnāṭīs, Persian and Turkish mıknatıs, German, Russian, Dutch and Indonesian magnet.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Ancient Greek to Arabic

From Arabic to Persian

From Arabic to Ottoman Turkish, Turkish

From Ancient Greek to Modern Greek

From Latin to German, Russian

From Latin to Italian

From Latin to Polish

From Latin to Dutch, Indonesian

From English to Japanese

450 BCEAncient Greek

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

magnet

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

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