Organics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Substances obtained from living organisms that are carbon-based
2. Materials that originate from biological sources and include carbon-containing compounds
3. Chemical compounds derived from living organisms containing carbon ; items produced through natural farming methods without synthetic chemicals

Etymology: "Organics" is the plural of "organic", so its history is that of the adjective, which the source traces to Latin "organicus", passed through Old French "organique" into Middle English. The Latin word itself comes from Greek "organikos", tied to "organon", a tool or instrument, and the sense of a body's parts working together like the mechanism of a tool is what gave the word its original meaning of relating to living bodies and their organs. The noun form used here, meaning carbon-based living substances, is a later development. Chemists began using "organic" for compounds that were thought to arise only from living matter, and the plural "organics" was then used as a noun for such materials. The narrowing from "organs of a body" to "substances made by living things" is a shift from a physical instrument to a chemical category.