rubber

the word 'rubber' originates from the english verb 'to rub', which has old english roots from the word 'rubban', meaning to scrape or rub. in the 18th century, the term was applied to the substance now known as rubber because of its initial use as an eraser, an object used for rubbing out pencil marks. this functional name, derived from the action it performed, later expanded to denote the elastic material itself, regardless of its use. the journey from a simple verb describing an action to the name of a major industrial material exemplifies how english creates new words through functional metonymy.

the word 'rubber' is a simplex form derived from the verb 'rub'. it is not productively segmented into classical morphemes in its modern english spelling and meaning.