Where did the name oxygen come from?

Answer 1

The origin of the name of the element oxygen is Greek. It come from two Greek word meaning "acid" and "maker" because it was thought, incorrectly as it turned out, that all acids contained oxygen.

Answer 2

Greek oxys, "acid" + genos, "former." This is because things that react with oxygen often form acids.
The word oxygen is Greek in origin, composed of 'oxy-': sharp, acid (as in oxymoron, which literally means 'sharp-dull'), and '-gen': something that produces (as in pyrogen: that which makes fire, pathogen: that which makes disease, hydrogen: that which makes water). Therefore the literal meaning of the word is 'that which makes acid', and this was because when oxygen was first isolated in air, its role or importance was not known and it was treated as any other new element. First it was called 'dephlogisticated air' according to the now-obsolete 'phlogiston theory' (check Wikipedia for more details), but later it was found that this element was essential to the creation of acids and therefore the name 'oxygen' was given to it and this name stuck with the element until today.

Answer 3

Oxygen was isolated independently by two people: Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1773 and Joseph Priestley in 1774. Although Scheele was actually the first to discover the element, Priestley usually is given credit because he was the first of the two to publish his discovery. The term "oxygen" did not come into use until 1777 and was coined by French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier from the French word "oxygéne" (derived from Greek: "oxy-" meaning acid, keen, or sharp; and "-genes" meaning formation or creation). Lavoisier renamed the element from dephlogisticated air to oxygen to indicate how he believed it was essential in the formation of acids.

Answer 4

Oxygen in its molecular forms, O2 (normal diatomic oxygen) or O3 (ozone), uncombined with other elements.Free oxygen is a requirement of all aerobic organisms and its copious presence in a planetary atmosphere is diagnostic of the presence of life

Answer 5

this is another word for oxygen, well really it is not classed as a word but a scientific element - O

but if you are looking for a word then use the most common one - air.

hope this helped

- e

Answer 6

it comes from an old story about an ox who drank too much gen. (the word for gin in chinese) it comes from an old story about an ox who drank too much gen. (the word for gin in chinese)