elastic

UK/ɪˈlæstɪk/US/ɪˈlæstɪk/

nounC12 meanings Common in everyday speech and writing · #8,155 of 15,258leans written

Elastic is a band that stretches and springs back. A piece of elastic, elastic waistband, the elastic has gone.

The material is rubber threads woven into fabric, and the elastic has gone is the standard verdict on a garment past saving. As an adjective it means capable of returning to shape, and in physics elastic deformation is the kind a material recovers from, against plastic deformation, which it does not. Figuratively, elastic rules stretch to fit. Note elasticity; and an elastic band, which Americans call a rubber band.

Definitions of elastic

1nounelasticA band that stretches and springs back.C1
“The elastic in my old pyjamas has gone, so they keep falling down.”
2adjectiveableAble to return to shape after stretching.B1
“The rubber is elastic, so it snaps back when you let go.”

Also practised as

adjectiveAble to return to shape after being stretched.

Where it comes from

New Latin elasticus comes from Greek elastos, ductile, from elaunein, to drive or beat out. The word was coined in the seventeenth century for the springiness of air.

French
élastique
English, today
elastic

Built from

ἐλατός · Ancient Greek — ductile
ἐλατήρ · Ancient Greek — a driver, hurler
ἐλαύνω · Ancient Greek — to drive, set in motion, push, strike, beat out

Borrowed from French élastique. From French élastique, from New Latin elasticus (“elastic”), from Ancient Greek ἐλαστός, alternative form of ἐλατός (“ductile”) (cf. ἐλατήρ (“a driver, hurler”)), from ἐλαύνω (“to drive, set in motion, push, strike, beat out”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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