Meaning

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

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

noun a copy made with carbon paper

originBorrowed from French carbone, coined by Antoine Lavoisier, from Latin carbō, carbōnem (“charcoal, coal”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kerh₃- (“to burn”). By surface analysis, carbo- + -on.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0