carbon

/ˈkɑrbən/

/ˈkɑbən/

Other forms: carbons

Carbon is an element that takes the solid form of either graphite or diamond. Carbon is one of the basic elements of any living thing.

Carbon is known as the most essential element for life, and it's the second most abundant — after oxygen — in the human body. Carbon paper was an early method of making copies, using a sheet of paper coated with wax and, originally, carbon soot. The copy that results from writing or typing on paper that's placed on top, with a blank page beneath the carbon paper, is called a carbon copy. The Latin root of carbon is carbonem, "charcoal."

Definitions of carbon

1. noun

   an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds
   synonyms: C, atomic number 6

   types:

   fullerene

   a form of carbon having a large molecule consisting of an empty cage of sixty or more carbon atoms

   carbon 14, radiocarbon

   a radioactive isotope of carbon

   char

   a charred substance

   charcoal, wood coal

   a carbonaceous material obtained by heating wood or other organic matter in the absence of air

   carbon black, crock, lampblack, smut, soot

   a black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink

   activated carbon, activated charcoal

   powdered or granular carbon used for purifying by adsorption; given orally (as a slurry) it is an antidote for some kinds of poisons

   black lead, graphite, plumbago

   used as a lubricant and as a moderator in nuclear reactors

   adamant, diamond

   very hard native crystalline carbon valued as a gem

   lead, pencil lead

   mixture of graphite with clay in different degrees of hardness; the marking substance in a pencil

   buckminsterfullerene, buckyball

   a spheroidal fullerene; the first known example of a fullerene

   carbon nanotube, nanotube

   a fullerene molecule having a cylindrical or toroidal shape

   animal black, animal charcoal, bone black, bone char

   black substance containing char in the form of carbonized bone; used as a black pigment

   black diamond, carbonado

   an inferior dark diamond used in industry for drilling and polishing

   pencil

   graphite (or a similar substance) used in such a way as to be a medium of communication

   snuff

   the charred portion of a candlewick

   type of:

   chemical element, element

   any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter
2. noun

   a thin paper coated on one side with a dark waxy substance (often containing carbon); used to transfer characters from the original to an under sheet of paper
   synonyms: carbon paper

   type of:

   paper

   a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
3. noun

   a copy made with carbon paper
   synonyms: carbon copy

   type of:

   copy

   a thing made to be similar or identical to another thing