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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for April 22, 1999
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rubber [n. RUB-ur]
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In its raw form, rubber is a yellowish, elastic substance that is made
from the milky latex (sap) of certain plants. By implementing various
treatments it can be altered for a wide range of uses. It can be
hard or soft, sticky or dry, heavy or light.
Rubber was used by native Americans for centuries before Europeans
discovered it. They called it caoutchouc, and centuries earlier in
the Quechua language of the Incas it was known as kawchu.
When the odd substance from the New World began to find use in the
form of erasers (small chunks that were used to rub out marks made
with a graphite pencil), the English scientist Joseph Priestly decided
to start calling it rubber, and the name stuck. Today the word refers
not only to the material originally known as caoutchouc, but also to
various synthetic substances with similar properties and uses.
In most other languages, rubber is known by names that translate
literally as "gum," a word for the gooey, sticky sap of trees,
including the rubber tree.
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