carbon

Meanings

Noun

• The chemical element (symbol C) with an atomic number of 6. It can be found in pure form for example as graphite, a black, shiny and very soft material, or diamond, a colourless, transparent, crystalline solid and the hardest known material.
• An atom of this element, in reference to a molecule containing it.
• A sheet of carbon paper.
• A carbon copy.
• A fossil fuel that is made of impure carbon such as coal or charcoal.
• Carbon dioxide, in the context of global warming and climate change.
• A carbon rod or pencil used in an arc lamp.
• A plate or piece of carbon used as one of the elements of a voltaic battery.

Verb

• To cause (someone) to receive a carbon copy of an email message.

Origin

• Borrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃-.