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Origin and history of dental

dental(adj.)

1590s, "of or pertaining to teeth," from French dental "of teeth" or Medieval Latin dentalis, from Latin dens (genitive dentis) "tooth" (from PIE root *dent- "tooth"). As "connected with or used in dentistry," 1826. In grammar, "formed or pronounced at or near the front upper teeth, with the tip or front of the tongue," 1590s. As a noun, "sound formed by placing the end of the tongue against or near the upper teeth," 1794. Related: Dentally; dentality.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to dental

*dent-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "tooth."

It might form all or part of: al dente; dandelion; dental; dentifrice; dentist; dentition; denture; glyptodon; indent (v.1) "to make notches;" mastodon; orthodontia; periodontal; teethe; tooth; toothsome; tusk; trident.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit danta, Greek odontos (gen.), Latin dens, Lithuanian dantis, Old Irish det, Welsh dent, Old English toð, German Zahn, Gothic tunþus "tooth."

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    Trends of dental

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    a.s.a.p.
    either as a word (acronym) or as four letters (initialism), 1920, in a list of abbreviations recommended for secretaries in dental...Fancher, D.D.S., "The Practical Application of the Dental Hygienist in General Practice," in Oral Hygiene, March 1920) also...
    calculus
    from 1732 to mean kidney stones, etc., then generally for "concretion occurring accidentally in the animal body," such as dental...
    phoresis
      In a paper which I sent to the Dental Section of the International Medical Congress, to be held at Moscow in August...
    Vaseline
    [The Monthly Review of Dental Surgery, February 1877]...
    shend
    .)) + -þa, with change of -m- to -n- before a dental (compare Old Frisian skande, Dutch schande, Old High German scanda,...
    floss
    Dental floss is from 1872; the verb floss in reference to use of it is from 1909. Related: Flossed; flossing....
    level
    Garretson, "Professional Education," in "The Dental Cosmos," Philadelphia, 1865] Modern use is mostly from computer gaming...
    consonant
    early 14c., "alphabetic element other than a vowel," from Latin consonantem (nominative consonans) "sounding together, agreeing," as a noun, "a consonant" (consonantem littera), present participle of consonare "to sound together, sound aloud," from assimilated form of com "with,
    idol
    mid-13c., "image of a deity as an object of (pagan) worship," from Old French idole "idol, graven image, pagan god" (11c.), from Latin idolum "image (mental or physical), form," especially "apparition, ghost," but used in Church Latin for "false god, image of a pagan deity as an
    bingo
    lotto-like game of chance, 1924; there are many theories about its origin, none satisfying; the most likely is bingo! as an exclamation of sudden realization or surprise (attested from 1923). Uncertain connection to the slang word for "brandy" (1690s), attested as "liquor" in Ame

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