Creosote name is derived . The two main kinds recognized in industry are coal-tar creosote and wood-tar creosote. The coal-tar variety, having stronger and more toxic properties, has chiefly been used as a preservative for wood; coal-tar creosote was also formerly used as an escharotic, to burn malignant skin tissue, and in dentistry, to prevent necrosis, before its carcinogenic properties became known. The wood-tar variety has been used for meat preservation, ship treatment, and such medical purposes as an anaesthetic, antiseptic, astringent, expectorant, and laxative, though these have mostly been replaced by modern formulations. Varieties of creosote have also been made
English words of Greek origin words like "metabolize", though composed of a Greek root and a Greek suffix, are modern compounds. Greek and English share many Indo-European cognates. In some cases, the cognates can be confused with borrowings. For example, the English "mouse" is cognate with Greek μῦς /mys/ and Latin "mūs", all from an Indo-European word "*mūs"; they are not borrowings. Similarly, "acre" is cognate to Latin "ager" and Greek αγρός, but not a borrowing; on the other hand, the prefix "agro-" is a borrowing from Greek, and the prefix "agri-" a borrowing from Latin. Many are used verbatim in English texts—"et cetera" ("etc."),