Organic

How to spell organic

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce organic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does organic mean?

1. adjectiveProduced or grown without synthetic chemicals, fertilisers, or pesticides.
2. adjectiveRelating to or derived from living organisms or carbon-based matter.
3. adjectiveDeveloping gradually and naturally rather than being forced or planned.

Organic in a sentence

• The shop charges more for organic vegetables grown without pesticides.

• The soil is rich in decayed leaves and other organic material.

• The friendship felt organic rather than something either of them had engineered.

• She switched to organic milk after reading about farming standards.

• The students spent the term studying organic chemistry and carbon compounds.

• The company prefers organic growth funded by its own profits.

Where does organic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek organon, which literally meant a tool or instrument and was also used for a part of the body that does a particular job, an organ. From organon the Greeks formed organikos, meaning 'serving as an instrument' or 'relating to an organ'. Latin took this up as organicus, and the word reached English through French organique in the early 1500s, at first carrying the sense 'relating to the bodily organs'. Over the following centuries the meaning broadened to cover anything derived from living matter, which is why nineteenth century chemists named the study of carbon compounds 'organic chemistry', and why modern farming free of synthetic chemicals is called 'organic'. The spelling stays close to its Greek and Latin roots, with the hard g and the plain -ic ending, so it is the unstressed middle vowel rather than any silent letter that occasionally trips writers up.

How the word is built

• organ (from Greek organon: instrument, bodily organ)
• -ic (adjective suffix: relating to)