Japanese word

炭素

Pronunciation

Romajitanso

Meaning

  • nouncarbon

Example

人の体には炭素が含まれています。hito no karada ni wa tan so ga fuku ma re te i ma su

The human body contains carbon.

Illustration for 炭素 (carbon)

More examples

森林は大気中の炭素を長期間蓄えます。shin rin wa tai ki chū no tan so o chō ki kan takuwa e ma su

Forests store carbon from the atmosphere for long periods.

Core concept

It names an element that can combine with many others and also exist by itself in distinct forms such as graphite and diamond.

Common phrases

  • 炭素税tan so zei

    carbon tax

  • 炭素排出量tan so hai shutsu ryō

    carbon emissions

  • 炭素を固定するtan so o ko tei su ru

    sequester carbon

Definition in Japanese

多くの化合物の成分となり、単体では黒鉛やダイヤモンドなどとして現れる、原子番号六の非金属元素。ō ku no ka gō butsu no sei bun to na ri tan tai de wa koku en ya da i ya mo n do na do to shi te arawa re ru gen shi ban gō roku no hi kin zoku gen so

Word origin

The word 炭素 (tanso) consists of 炭 (tan, "charcoal") and 素 (so, "element"), meaning an element associated with charcoal.

Usage tips

  • In carbon copy, carbon refers historically to the carbon paper that transferred writing to a second sheet, a sense preserved in modern email language.

Related words

  • 脱炭素化dattansokadecarbonizationnoun
  • 炭素化tansokacarbonizationnoun

Word lists with this word