carbon
/ˈkɑːbən//ˈkɑɹ.bən/
carbon 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. Also the ellipsis of carbon dioxide.
Noun
carbon (countable and uncountable, plural carbons)
- 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.
- All life as we know it has carbon as the backbone of many of its molecules; carbon’s tetravalence gives it special importance in biochemical molecular bonds.
- Carbon is the most common element in our bodies—indeed, in all living things on earth.2006, Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 20
- An atom of this element, in reference to a molecule containing it.
- A methane molecule is made up of a single carbon with four hydrogens.
- A sheet of carbon paper.
- He stepped back and opened his bag and took out a printed pad of D.O.A. forms and began to write over a carbon.1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 51
- A carbon copy.
- Please provide me with a carbon of your form.
- Press firmly: you are making a carbon.
- A fossil fuel that is made of impure carbon such as coal or charcoal.
- Soot.
- Every morning she cleaned the carbon from the lamp chimneys.
- A carbon rod or pencil used in an arc lamp.
- To trim an arc lamp, first remove the old carbons and carefully and thoroughly wipe the carbon rods, holders, &c. with a clean, dry rag.1892, English Mechanic and World of Science, page 444
- A plate or piece of carbon used as one of the elements of a voltaic battery.
Verb
carbon (third-person singular simple present carbons, present participle carboning, simple past and past participle carboned)
- To send a carbon copy of an email message to.
- When I send it, I’ll carbon Julia so she’s aware.
Proper noun capitalized: Carbon
Carbon (countable and uncountable, plural Carbons)
- A surname.
- A village in Kneehill County, Alberta, Canada.
- A town in Van Buren Township, Clay County, Indiana.
- A minor city and coal town in Douglas Township, Adams County, Iowa.
- An unincorporated community and coal town in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
- A town in Eastland County, Texas.
Also used as
carbon is also the ellipsis of carbon dioxide.
carbon is also the ellipsis of carbon fiber.
carbon meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
carbon in Hindi
- chemical element
- प्रांगार prāṅgār, कार्बन kārban, कारबन kārban
carbon in Tamil
- chemical element
- கரிமம் karimam, கார்பன் kārpaṉ
- informal: a sheet of carbon paper
- கரிமக் காகிதம் karimak kākitam
- fossil fuel made of impure carbon
- கரி kari
carbon in Marathi
- chemical element
- कार्बन kārban
carbon in Urdu
- کاربن
More languagesFewer languages
- carbon in Bengali
- অঙ্গার oṅgar
- carbon in Telugu
- కార్బన్ kārban, అచ్చు కాగితం accu kāgitaṁ
- carbon in Malayalam
- കാർബണ് kāṟbaṇ, ഇംഗാലം iṅgālaṁ
- carbon in Kannada
- ಇಂಗಾಲ iṅgāla
- carbon in Punjabi
- ਕਾਰਬਨ kārban
- carbon in Gujarati
- કાર્બન kārban
- carbon in Odia
- ଅଙ୍ଗାରକ aṅgāraka
- carbon in Sanskrit
- कौकिलीय kaukilīya, प्राङ्गार prāṅgāra
- carbon in Nepali
- कार्बन, कार्बनलाई
- carbon in Pashto
- کاربون kārbón
- carbon in Tagalog
- karbono
- carbon in Arabic
- كَرْبُون karbūn
- carbon in Malay
- karbon, arang
- carbon in Indonesian
- karbon, zat arang
- carbon in Persian
- کربن karbon
- carbon in Thai
- คาร์บอน kaa-bɔ̂n
- carbon in Vietnamese
- cacbon, giấy than, than, than củi
- carbon in Myanmar
- ကာဗွန် kabwan
Examples of carbon in a sentence
- The air on Mars is very thin and consists mostly of carbon dioxide.
- A human being burns a certain amount of carbon with each respiration.
- In preparing the contract, we'll make a carbon copy for our records.
Synonyms of carbon
Forms of carbon
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | carbons |
| alternative form (obsolete) | carbone |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | carbons |
| present participle | carboning |
| past participle | carboned |
| past | carboned |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Carbons |
Origin of carbon
Borrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, carbōnem (“charcoal, coal”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (“to burn”).
Words formed from carbon
- anticarbon
- benzyloxycarbonyl
- biocarbon
- carbapenem
- carbazotic acid
- carb-
- carbo-
- carbinol
- carbinyl
- carbogen
- Carboloy
- carbon-13 NMR
- carbonæmia
- carbon anhydride
- carbon arc
- carbonate
- carbonation
- carbon audit
- carbon-based
- carbon bisulfide
- carbon bisulphide
- carbon black
- carbon budget
- carbon burning
- carbon capture
- carbon-carbon bond
- carbon chauvinism
- carbon chauvinist
- carbon chloride
- carbon-copy
- carbon copy
- carbon cost
- Carbon County
- carbon credit
- carbon cycle
- carbon-date
- carbon dating
- carbon debt
- carbon detonation
- carbon dioxid
- carbon dioxide
- carbon dioxide-equivalent
- carbon dioxide equivalent
- carbon dioxide snow
- carbon diselenide
- carbon disulfide
- carbon disulphide
- carbon emissions trading
- carbon-ferrous
- carbon fiber
- carbon fibre
- carbon fixation
- carbon footprint
- carbon-free
- carbon group
- carbonian
- carbonic
- carbonide
- carbonific
- carbonification
Phrases with carbon
- carbon oil
- carbon tax
- carbon tet
- blue carbon
- carbon arcs
- carbon sink
- carbon star
- alpha carbon
- black carbon
- carbon costs
- carbon debts
- carbon inset
92 more phrasesFewer phrases
- carbon oxide
- carbon paper
- carbon print
- carbon sinks
- carbon stars
- carbon steel
- carbon taxes
- carbon trade
- carbon audits
- carbon copied
- carbon copies
- carbon cycles
- carbon fibers
- carbon fibres
- carbon insets
- carbon market
- carbon number
- carbon offset
- carbon oxides
- carbon papers
- carbon planet
- carbon prints
- carbon steels
- carbon tablet
- carbon trades
- glassy carbon
- carbon budgets
- carbon copying
- carbon credits
- carbon datings
- carbon leakage
- carbon markets
- carbon neutral
- carbon numbers
- carbon offsets
- carbon planets
- carbon process
- carbon tablets
- carbon trading
- carbon leakages
- carbon literacy
- carbon monoxide
- carbon nanofoam
- carbon nanotube
- carbon negative
- carbon printing
- carbon resistor
- carbon suboxide
- activated carbon
- carbon fixations
- carbon insetting
- carbon nanofiber
- carbon nanofibre
- carbon nanofoams
- carbon nanotubes
- carbon resistors
- East Carbon City
- inorganic carbon
- vegetable carbon
- blind carbon copy
- carbon footprints
- carbon microphone
- carbon nanofibers
- carbon nanofibres
- carbon neutrality
- carbon offsetting
- carbon oxysulfide
- carbon subnitride
- sulfide of carbon
- carbon chauvinists
- carbon detonations
- carbon microphones
- carbon oxychloride
- carbon oxysulphide
- carbon tetraiodide
- carbon transmitter
- sulphide of carbon
- beta carbon nitride
- blind carbon copied
- blind carbon copies
- carbon monofluoride
- carbon sequestering
- carbon tetrabromide
- carbon transmitters
- sulphuretted carbon
- beta carbon nitrides
- blind carbon copying
- carbon sequestration
- carbon tetrachloride
- carbon tetrafluoride
- carbon monoxide alarm
- carbon monoxide drill
Words that rhyme with carbon
Questions about carbon
- What does carbon mean?
- Carbon means 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.
- What is carbon in Hindi?
- Carbon in Hindi is प्रांगार (prāṅgār), कार्बन (kārban), कारबन (kārban). See Carbon meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is carbon?
- Carbon can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce carbon?
- Carbon is pronounced /ˈkɑɹ.bən/ (US).
- What is the plural of carbon?
- The plural of carbon is carbons.
Words near carbon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: carbon (page history and authors); Carbon (page history and authors); carbon (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); carbon (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-carbon.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Tesco250-carbon.wav.
Cite this entry: “carbon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/carbon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.