gas

About This Root

From Dutch gas, coined around 1650 by Flemish chemist Jan Baptist van Helmont, inspired by Greek chaos (void, empty space). A rare example of a scientist deliberately inventing a word. Yields gas (the state of matter), gaseous (in gas form), gasoline (a liquid fuel named for its gas-producing quality), and gasification. Van Helmont's neologism became one of science's most universal terms.

Associated Words