An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A gaseous → chemical element; symbol O.
Oxygen is the most abundant element in the → Universe not produced in the → Big Bang, and the third most common overall. It is a colorless, tasteless, odorless gas that is the second most abundant constituent of dry air (20.95% by volume). → Atomic number 8; → atomic weight 15.9994; → melting point -218.4°C; → boiling point -182.962°C; → density 1.429 grams per liter at STP.

Oxygen was discovered for the first time by a Swedish Chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, in 1772. Joseph Priestley, an English chemist, independently, discovered oxygen in 1774 and published his findings the same year, three years before Scheele published. Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist, also discovered oxygen in 1775, was the first to recognize it as an element.

Etymology (EN): From Fr. oxygène, literally “acid former,” coined in 1777 by the Fr. chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), from Gk. oxys “sharp, acid” + Fr. -gène “something that produces” from Gk. -genes “formation, creation” (cognate with Pers. zâdan “to bring forth, give birth;” Mid.Pers. zâtan; Av. zan- “to bear, give birth to a child, be born,” infinitive zazāite, zāta- “born;” cf. Skt. janati “begets, bears;”
L. gignere “to beget,” nasci “to be born,” as above, PIE base *gen- “to give birth, beget”).

Etymology (PE): Oksižen, loan from Fr., as above.