Asbestos

How to spell asbestos

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce asbestos

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does asbestos mean?

1. nounA fibrous silicate mineral once widely used for fireproofing and insulation, now known to cause serious lung disease.

Asbestos in a sentence

• The surveyor found asbestos in the old ceiling tiles before the renovation began.

• Removing asbestos from an older building requires licensed specialists and protective equipment.

Where does asbestos come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the Greek asbestos, which literally meant 'unquenchable' or 'inextinguishable', formed from the negative prefix a- ('not') and sbestos ('quenchable', from the verb sbennynai, 'to quench or extinguish'). The Greeks originally applied the term to quicklime, a substance that seems to burn when water is added, but later writers transferred the name to the fibrous mineral that resists fire and will not burn away. Latin authors borrowed it as asbestos, and it passed into English in the medieval period, at first in the sense of a legendary fireproof stone. The modern industrial meaning, the silicate mineral once woven into fireproof materials before its health dangers were understood, settled in by the nineteenth century. The spelling preserves that Greek root intact, which is why it keeps the unusual 'sb' cluster and ends in '-os' rather than the more familiar '-us'.

How the word is built

• a- (Greek: not)
• sbestos (quenchable, from sbennynai 'to quench')