A carburetor (American spelling) or carburettor (Commonwealth spelling) is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It was invented by Karl Benz before 1885[1] and patented in 1886[2]. It is colloquially called a carb (in North America and the United Kingdom).
The word carburetor comes from the French carbure meaning "carbide"[3]. Carburer means to combine with carbon. In fuel chemistry, the term has the more specific meaning of increasing the carbon (and therefore energy) content of a fuel by mixing it with a volatile hydrocarbon.