Etymology

The etymology of thermodynamics has an intricate history. It was first spelled in a hyphenated
form as an adjective (thermo-dynamic) in 1849 and from 1854 to 1859 as the hyphenated noun
thermo-dynamics to represent the science of heat and motive power and thereafter as
thermodynamics.
The components of the word thermo-dynamic are derived from the Greek words therme,
meaning "heat," and dynamis, meaning "power" (Haynie claims that the word was
coined around 1840).[37][38]
The term thermo-dynamic was first used in January 1849 by William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) in
the phrase a perfect thermo-dynamic engine to describe Carnot's heat engine.[39]:545 In April 1849,
Thomson added an appendix to his paper and used the term thermodynamic in the phrase the
object of a thermodynamic engine.[39]:569
Pierre Perrot claims that the term thermodynamics was coined by James Joule in 1858 to
designate the science of relations between heat and power.[11] Joule, however, never used that
term, but did use the term perfect thermo-dynamic engine in reference to Thomsons 1849
phraseology,[39]:545 and Thomson's note on Joules' 1851 paper On the Air-Engine.
In 1854, thermo-dynamics, as a functional term to denote the general study of the action of heat,
was first used by William Thomson in his paper On the Dynamical Theory of Heat.[2]
In 1859, the closed compound form thermodynamics was first used by William Rankine in A
Manual of the Steam Engine in a chapter on the Principles of Thermodynamics.[40]