The origins of physics words

The predominantly Greek and Latin etymological roots that form the core introductory physics vocabulary are identified. They number slightly over 260. Words with other origins and common suffixes are also listed. Definitions are also given for a group of words that have caused difficulties for students in physics classes, contrasting meanings that are, and are not related to physics. A reverse dictionary of roots, showing the individual origin of about 400 words in all areas of introductory physics is presented in an appendix. The information presented here can inform and assist in developing a physics lexicon in minority and indigenous languages and to create classroom moments that connect the origin of words with everyday life.


Introduction
The aim of this paper is to provide a complete account of the origins of physics terms for the benefit of those who plan to develop a physics vocabulary in languages that currently do not have one, especially minority or indigenous languages (henceforth MILs).A recent study [1] identified the core lexicon of introductory mechanics for secondary and university algebrabased courses, and drew examples from the physics vocabulary used in several MILs.It also explored two mechanisms for creating physics terms, which we call loanwords and adapted words respectively.The first are words that sound phonetically plausible in the MIL, and echo the word in a dominant language [2], usually, but not always English.The second uses the roots of the accepted physics word and replaces them with native words or roots.There is a third alternative, new words, which consists of coining words that have no reference to the existing ones.Let me give a hypothetical example.Suppose Spanish lacked a word for 'entropy.'The natural loanword would be 'entropía,' which sounds a lot like the existing physics word, but is not explicitly descriptive.A second approach is to go to the roots of the word (Greek in this case), coined in the 1860s by Clausius, and which literally mean 'transformation content,' or more loosely 'turning toward'.'Contenido de transformación' sounds awkward, but it is at least conceptually more meaningful to a native Spanish speaker than the first alternative.Finally, a contemporary physicist may dig a bit deeper and propose 'multiplicidad modificada,' to reflect that entropy can be calculated as the logarithm of the multiplicity of microscopic states, or 'cercanía al equilibrio,' as in a closed system the entropy increases as it approaches equilibrium.
The point of this paper is not to advocate for, or against any of these strategies, but to help any potential lexicon developers understand the origin of currently used words and inform them about their content.While the first approach offers the straightest path to the standard, international physics vocabulary, the second and third can may make the students more comfortable and confident about what the word means, encourage discussions in their native language, and can allow for an easy transition to standard vocabulary with proper bilingual instruction.
There is an additional, more subtle benefit to the work presented here: not all words were coined by isolated scientists, as happened in the example above; some emerged from complicated interactions between everyday and scientific language, such as 'amount,' evoking a heap (mountain) of things, or 'turbulence,' which, as you will see later, is reminiscent of the complicated, unpredictable motions of a mob of people.An occasional word origin anecdote could go a long way in helping students connect their ordinary life with that of the classroom or lab and thus making physics more 'human.' This paper traces the origins of the core algebra-based physics vocabulary (in English) for the areas covered in most introductory physics courses: mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and optics.A study of 80 000 words in the English language [3] shows that the origin of words in common spoken English breaks down as follows: about 28% each from French and Latin, 25% Germanic languages, 5% Greek, and the remainder from other origins.An unrelated study [4] states that about 60% of English words can ultimately be traced back to Greek or Latin, but this number goes up to 90% for science and technology vocabulary.Our work confirms that this predominance of a Greek and Latin influence is indeed the case in physics.
The results presented in this paper come from extensive searches of an etymology web page [5].We proceed directly to the results, presented as follows.
In section 2 we provide an extensive list of the Greek and Latin roots from which most elementary physics words can be constructed.Out of the over 6000 roots used in science [6, 7] just over 260 make up the physics list.This section also includes a list of words with other origins (notably earlier versions of English), and a few useful suffixes.Words come from reference [1] for mechanics, and [8][9][10] for electricity, magnetism and optics.In section 3 we show multiple meanings of a list of words that have been identified as causing confusion in introductory physics students [11,12], with at least one meaning related to physics and one other not.Section 4 presents a brief discussion and conclusion.Appendix provides a reverse directory of root usage, showing the origin of the words in reference [1] plus a selection of words in electricity, magnetism, and optics, adding up to over 400 keywords.slope, slow, speed, spin, splitter, spring, sun, thin, understand, unknown, water, wave, weight, wind, windings, work.

Words with other origins
As in the previous section, most of these words have everyday uses.The language of origin is given without further etymological information.

Origins and use of common suffixes
These qualifiers can be an important part of the meaning of a word, and hence deserve their own section, even though some languages will not have suffixes themselves.
− age: old French, via L: suffix that indicates act, process, function, condition.− al: L: suffix that indicates of, like, related to, pertaining to.− ance, -ence: L: suffix that helps form abstract nouns of process or fact.− ar: L: suffix that indicates pertaining to, of the nature of.− ate: L: suffix for making nouns, and sometimes adjectives − cy: L: noun suffix of quality or rank.ic: G, via L and French: suffix that forms adjectives that indicate having to do with, having the nature of, being, made of, caused by, similar to.
− ion: L: suffix for making nouns of state, condition, or action.− ism: G, via L and French: suffix that makes nouns implying a practice, system, or doctrine.− ity: L via French: suffix helping form abstract nouns from adjectives and means condition or quality of being.− ive: L via Old French: suffix making adjectives from verbs and means pertaining to, tending to; doing, serving to do.− er: L, and also PG/OE; agent suffix.− ness: PG: suffix that makes abstract nouns from adjectives and participles.− oid: G via L: suffix meaning like, like that of, thing like (something).− or: L via Old French: suffix making nouns of quality, state, or condition.− ion: L via French: suffix attached to verbs, making nouns of state, condition, or action.− ude: L via French: suffix that makes abstract nouns from adjectives and participles.− ule: L via French: suffix meaning small or little.− ure: L via French: suffix forming abstract nouns of action.

Problem words with multiple meanings
These words were identified in references [11,12] as causing confusion among physics students.While words were pre-selected by the paper authors, the diagnosis was made by interviewing actual students.An asterisk ( * ) precedes the physics-related meaning(s), which in most cases can also be extracted from the word root lists.
Acceleration: when something happens or moves more quickly (the acceleration of climate change).* The time change of rate of velocity (the acceleration on Earth's surface due to gravity).
Angle: a way to approach a goal (that angle is not working).A point of view for observing (a videocam angle).* The span between to lines that cross (the ramp made a 30-degree angle with the horizontal).
Cycle: the time between two events that happen frequently (an economic cycle).A sequence of events that often returns to the initial point (he completed his cycle at the company).* One full to-and-fro event of a periodic phenomenon (a pendulum clock undergoes one cycle per second).
Convention: a group of people who meet for a common objective (a salesman convention).Something that is done out of custom (it was a family convention to greet the elders first).A set of rules to allow interactions between governments (a regional trade convention).* An agreement to do something in a given way (for the cross product we use the right-hand convention).
Density: the number of entities per unit area (the tree density of the forest).* The value of a quantity normalized per unit mass or volume (the density of water is about 800 times greater than that of air).
Deviation: a moving away from a belief or doctrine (deviation from standard liberalism).* In a probability distribution, the average spread with respect to a reference point (the standard deviation of the experiment was suspiciously small).
Direction: an ultimate goal (the company lost its sense of direction).The instruction or supervision of someone (he acted under the direction of his boss).* The relative spatial orientation between two points (the both came from the same direction).
Distribution: the action of distributing (distribution of a fortune).* Frequency distribution: the quantitative description of variations in a population or sample (a distribution of measurements).
Energy: liveliness (a story told with energy).The ability to do something (energy to perform).* A physical quantity acquired through work or heat transfer (the potential energy of the spring increased as we stretched it).
Error: something that does not result in the expected outcome (an estimation error).The result of a mistake (transcription error).* The difference between a correct value and one that is measured or otherwise obtained (our experiment yielded a 5 percent error).
Fluid: something that can change, adapt or flow with ease (the situation was fluid).* A substance that flows or takes the shape of its container (water under everyday conditions is a fluid).
Force: something that is applied to something else (the force of the hurricane).Something that generates change (force of nature).* That which causes an acceleration or shape change in a physical body (springs exert an elastic force).
Frequency: quality of something happening often (frequency of colds in winter).* Number of cycles or oscillations per unit time of a periodic process (humans can detect sounds in a given frequency range).
Friction: the interaction between parties that disagree (friction between liberals and conservatives).* The force that resists the motion of one past another when their surfaces touch in parallel (friction slowed down the sliding crate).
Function: one or more actions within a system (the function of this valve is to prevent overflows).A professional appointment or capacity (he cannot perform the functions of his job).* The description of how a variable depends on another variable (the flow in the pipe is a function of pressure difference).
Gas: to talk too much or to brag (his claims were pure gas).* A fluid that has minimal cohesion forces (the air in this room is a gas).
Gravity: high level of consequence of an action (there was much gravity to his accusation).* The force of attraction between bodies due to their mass (weight is a consequence of the force of gravity).
Heat: high degree of emotion and concentration in an action or situation (he overreacted in the heat of the moment).* Energy that is passed between two objects at different temperatures (heat flowed from the hot coffee to the ice cube).
Impulse: the beginning of an action with no apparent previous thought or motivation (he got an impulse to leave the room immediately).* The accumulated effect of a force over time that leads to a momentum change (the tennis player applied impulse to the ball).
Intermittent: something that comes and goes with the seasons (intermittent flowering).* Something that comes and goes, possibly irregularly (intermittent rain is common here).
Kinetic: energetic, active (the ballet performance was kinetic).* Having to do with the motion of objects, especially their energy (the kinetic energy of the pushed object increased).
Mass: a group of many people (a mass of movie-goers).A large amount or quantity (masses of air).* A measure of the quantity of material (the tumor had a significant mass).
Massive: very significant (a massive heart attack).Very large (a massive loss of income).* Having a large amount of mass (a massive star).

Momentum:
The outcome of multiple similar positive events (after winning 10 games, the team had a lot of momentum).* The mass times the velocity of an object (even a bullet can have a lot of momentum).
Motion: the quality of something being in action or effect (unexpected events were set in motion).* The changing of place of an object, usually without a visible agent (the motion of the projectile was predictable with equations).
Normal: within an expectable range or pattern (normal weather).* Perpendicular to a plane (an object resting on a surface usually experiences a normal force).
Observation: act of being observed (under observation).Obedience of a law or norm (observation of the holiday).* Notice or recording of an event, possibly with instruments (physics has been built on the accumulation of observations).
Parameter: an ingredient (sadness as a parameter of depression).A constraint (travel within certain parameters).* Physical variables that define regimes of behavior (temperature and humidity as atmospheric parameters).
Phenomenon: an unusual occurrence (the very tall boy is a phenomenon).* A scientific process than can be described or analyzed (a tsunami is a complex phenomenon).
Physical: tangible or perceptible (proof of a physical soul has been elusive).Requiring strength or energy (a physical hike).* Having to do with physics (light can be understood in physical terms).
Point: the sharp tip of something (tapered to a point).A salient feature (that is a good point).* A sharply defined place in space (I walked to a point 50 meters north of the entrance).
Precision: being precise (a high-precision clock).* How fine-grained a measurement or mathematical operation are made (ten-digit precision; high-precision machining).-Pressure: the weight of important or urgent matters (pressure-free work).* The perpendicular force acting on a surface divided by its area (pascals are units of pressure).
Proportional: calculated with the use of proportions (proportional representation in politics).* Being related by a constant ration (at constant volume, the pressure and temperature of an ideal gas are proportional).
Random: without a clear aim or method (people were chosen at random).* Having a characteristic related to a probability of happening or being (the model was better if one included a small random element).
Resonance: a property of calling up a memory or emotion (that speech had great resonance in the audience).* A way in which a system can induce a similar vibration or oscillation in another system (the wine glass broke when it was in resonance with the sound source).
Sound: something we perceive in speech (the Xhosa language has click sounds).* Pressure waves transmitted through a medium that causes the sensation of hearing (harps have a pleasant sound).
Speed: a gear ratio in a vehicle (five-speed manual car).Moving or acting quickly (he reacted with great speed).* The magnitude of a velocity (the speed of the bouncing ball changed with its height).
System: an assembly of working parts with an overall function (an alarm system).An assembly of related parts (circulatory system).* Part of the physical world selected so it can be studied (sum of forces in an isolated system).
Temperature: a state of excitement (he received the criticism with high temperature).A fever (she had a temperature).* A property of objects related to their internal energy (the temperature of the air in the room was uniform).
Theory: a framework for action (she used a specific pedagogical theory to design her classes).A conjecture or guess (his theory was that the thief was an insider).* A principle, or collection of principles with scientific grounding that can explain a wide range of phenomena (the kinetic theory of gases).This word is often confounded with law or hypothesis.Time: a moment when something takes place (he was in Miami at the time).A period during which an action takes place (they lived in a boat for a time).* A dimension in which events are ordered by when they occur (with atomic clocks we can measure time in very small intervals).
Validity: legal acceptability (the validity of this will is beyond doubt).* Being correct based on good practice (the validity of this experiment is under discussion).
Velocity.Speed (I love the velocity of my new sports car).* The time rate of change of a position vector (the velocity of an object on a complex trajectory varies even if the speed is constant).-Wave:an activity peak (a crime wave).An increase of feeling (a wave of sadness).* A disturbance that propagates in space and time (a surface wave).
Work: the result of an activity that requires investment (the new wall was their work).An activity that needs to be kept up to obtain a result (solving those math problems took a lot of work).* The transfer of energy by means other than heat transfer (pushing the crate against friction took a lot of work).

Discussion and conclusions
This paper provides a tool for the creation of a physics lexicon via loanwords, adapted words, or new words, as described in the Introduction.Section 2 identifies over 260 Greek and Latin roots from which most elementary physics keywords can be derived.This is only a small fraction of the 6000 or so roots from these languages that are used in 'richer' sciences such as biology.The origin of other words is also identified; most of these are common enough (beam, body, breakdown, cold, depth, K) that we can expect them to be present in most languages.Lastly, common suffixes and their meanings are also presented.Section 3 contrasts physics and non-physics meanings of words that have been shown to be ambiguous or problematic for introductory physics students.Possible reasons for such confusion should be evident from the loosely related multiple meanings of these words.
An appendix shows a list of 400 common words in mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and optics, showing the multiple roots that make up each of the words.It also contains a reverse dictionary of the roots in section 2 (English to Latin and Greek).
All in all, the linguistic perspective presented here should be of interest to many physics teachers, as well as to those developing curriculum and lexicons in other languages, including minority and indigenous languages.In New Zealand and Ireland, students can write their final high school exams in Te Reo Maori and Irish, respectively, and in Haiti there is an official effort to teach students in Krayòl rather than French.Hopefully, the work presented here will pave the way for even more languages to accrue a useful physics vocabulary.
As a final caveat, language-based misconceptions arise in physics [13] and must be carefully addressed before words for such concepts are developed in other languages.