[car.bon] n, often attrib [F carbone, fr. L carbon-, carbo ember, charcoal] (1789) 1: a nonmetallic chiefly tetravalent element found native (as in the diamond and graphite) or as a constituent of coal, petroleum, and asphalt, of limestone and other carbonates, and of organic compounds or obtained artificially in varying degrees of purity esp. as carbon black, lampblack, activated carbon, charcoal, and coke
2: a carbon rod used in an arc lamp 3 a: a sheet of carbon paper b: carbon copy