Definitions for carbon
ˈkɑr bəncar·bon

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. carbon, C, atomic number 6(noun)

   an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds

2. carbon paper, carbon(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

3. carbon, carbon copy(noun)

   a copy made with carbon paper

GCIDE(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Carbon(n.)

   a sheet of carbon paper.

   Etymology: [F. carbone, fr. L. carbo coal; cf. Skr. r to cook.]

2. Carbon(n.)

   a carbon copy.

   Etymology: [F. carbone, fr. L. carbo coal; cf. Skr. r to cook.]

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. carbon(Noun)

   The chemical element (symbol C) with an atomic number of 6.

   Etymology: from carbo.

2. carbon(Noun)

   A sheet of carbon paper.

   Make sure the carbon is facing the second sheet of paper, before rolling it into the typewriter.

   Etymology: from carbo.

3. carbon(Noun)

   A carbon copy.

   Etymology: from carbo.

4. carbon(Noun)

   A fossil fuel that is made of impure carbon such as coal or charcoal.

   Etymology: from carbo.

5. carbon(Noun)

   Carbon dioxide, in the context of global warming and climate change.

   Etymology: from carbo.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Carbon(noun)

   an elementary substance, not metallic in its nature, which is present in all organic compounds. Atomic weight 11.97. Symbol C. it is combustible, and forms the base of lampblack and charcoal, and enters largely into mineral coals. In its pure crystallized state it constitutes the diamond, the hardest of known substances, occuring in monometric crystals like the octahedron, etc. Another modification is graphite, or blacklead, and in this it is soft, and occurs in hexagonal prisms or tables. When united with oxygen it forms carbon dioxide, commonly called carbonic acid, or carbonic oxide, according to the proportions of the oxygen; when united with hydrogen, it forms various compounds called hydrocarbons. Compare Diamond, and Graphite

   Etymology: [F. carbone, fr. L. carbo coal; cf. Skr. r to cook.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Carbon

   Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. There are three naturally occurring isotopes, with ¹²C and ¹³C being stable, while 14C is radioactive, decaying with a half-life of about 5,730 years. Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity. There are several allotropes of carbon of which the best known are graphite, diamond, and amorphous carbon. The physical properties of carbon vary widely with the allotropic form. For example, diamond is highly transparent, while graphite is opaque and black. Diamond is the hardest naturally-occurring material known, while graphite is soft enough to form a streak on paper. Diamond has a very low electrical conductivity, while graphite is a very good conductor. Under normal conditions, diamond, carbon nanotube and graphene have the highest thermal conductivities of all known materials. All carbon allotropes are solids under normal conditions with graphite being the most thermodynamically stable form. They are chemically resistant and require high temperature to react even with oxygen. The most common oxidation state of carbon in inorganic compounds is +4, while +2 is found in carbon monoxide and other transition metal carbonyl complexes. The largest sources of inorganic carbon are limestones, dolomites and carbon dioxide, but significant quantities occur in organic deposits of coal, peat, oil and methane clathrates. Carbon forms more compounds than any other element, with almost ten million pure organic compounds described to date, which in turn are a tiny fraction of such compounds that are theoretically possible under standard conditions.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Carbon

   kär′bon, n. an elementary substance, widely diffused, of which pure charcoal is an example.—n. Car′bide, a compound of carbon with a metal, formerly called Car′buret.—adjs. Carbonā′ceous, Carbon′ic, pertaining to or composed of carbon.—n. Car′bonate, a salt formed by the union of carbonic acid with a base.—adjs. Car′bonated, combined or impregnated with carbonic acid; Carbonif′erous, producing carbon or coal.—n. Carbonisā′tion—v.t. Car′bonise, to make into carbon.—Carbonic acid, an acid formed of carbon and oxygen, generally gaseous, and evolved by respiration and combustion. [Fr. carbone—L. carbon-em, coal.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Carbon

   A nonmetallic element with atomic symbol C, atomic number 6, and atomic weight 12.011. It may occur as several different allotropes including DIAMOND; CHARCOAL; and GRAPHITE; and as SOOT from incompletely burned fuel.

The Standard Electrical Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Carbon

   (a) One of the elements; atomic weight, 12. It exists in three allotropic modifications, charcoal, graphite and diamond. In the graphitic form it is used as an electric current conductor, as in batteries and for arc lamp, electrodes and incandescent lamp filaments. It is the only substance which conducts electricity and which cannot be melted with comparative ease by increase of current. (See Resistance.) (b) The carbon plate of a battery or rod of an arc lamp. To secure greater conductivity in lamp carbons, they are sometimes plated with nickel or with copper. (c) v. To place carbons in arc lamps. This has generally to be done once in twenty-four hours, unless the period of burning is very short.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. carbon

   See Charcoal.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. carbon

   Song lyrics by carbon -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by carbon on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'carbon' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4022

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'carbon' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2527

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'carbon' in Nouns Frequency: #1573

How to pronounce carbon?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say carbon in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of carbon in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of carbon in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of carbon in a Sentence

1. Gilles Dufrasne:

   As an offsetting scheme with a very weak target, the global aviation carbon market will not provide the price signal needed for airlines to clean up their act.

2. John Kornerup:

   There are no zero carbon technologies that you can apply on ships today that are viable, but we simply need to speed up [ innovation ] because we only have 11 years.

3. Morgan Schaller:

   A comet impact on its own may have contributed carbon to the atmosphere.

4. San Francisco:

   Every day, people can make choices, I think it's important that there are reminders about the choices people can make. Driving vehicles that use fossil fuels increases the carbon output and contributes to climate change.

5. Christopher Rollston:

   The fact that the papyrus itself has been carbon-dated to the seventh century BCE certainly does not mean that the writing on the papyrus is ancient.

Images & Illustrations of carbon

Popularity rank by frequency of use