2710: What Tannins Have to Do with Oak May 22, 2024

We don’t get many scientific words from Celtic, and in a particular way ‘tannin’ exists as a modern word because of Latin, but the origin goes much further. The English word ‘tan’, as in the color, comes from a Celtic root meaning ‘oak’, and since acorns and oak bark are used in the production of leather, the verb ‘to tan’ also comes from this. Likewise, the bitter quality of acorns comes from their tannic acid, named for the same reason. So the word ‘tannin’ is used in science now because it is derived from Latin according to the guidelines of scientific nomenclature, but Latin ‘tannum’ got it from a Celtic source.