Origins of Elemental Names - Weebly



Origins of Elemental Names | |

|Actinium |Greek  "aktis meaning beam or ray" |

|Aluminum |Latin "alumen" |

|Americium |After the Americas |

|Antimony |Latin "stibbum meaning mark" |

|Argon |Greek "argon" |

|Arsenic |Greek "arsenikos" meaning male from the belief that metals were different sexes. |

|Astantine |Greek "astatos" meaning unstable |

|Barium |Greek "barys" meaning heavy |

|Berkelium |Berkeley, home of the University of California |

|Beryllium |Greek "beryl" meaning sweet |

|Bismuth |German "weisse masse" meaning white mass  |

|Bromine |Greek "bromos" meaning stench |

|Cadmium |Latin "cadmia" ancient name for calamine, a mineral |

|Calcium |Latin "calx" meaning lime or limestone |

|Californium |Named after the State and University of California |

|Carbon |Latin "carbos" meaning charcoal |

|Cerium |Named after the asteroid Ceres which was discovered 2 years before this element. |

|Cesium |Latin "caesius" meaning sky blue |

|Chlorine |Greek "chloros" meaning greenish-yellow |

|Chromium |Greek "chroma" meaning colour |

|Cobalt |German "kobold" meaning goblin or evil spirit |

|Copper |Latin "cuprum" named for an island off the coast of Cypress |

|Curium |Named after Marie and Pierre Curie |

|Dysprosium |Greek "dysprositos" meaning 'hard to get at!' |

|Einsteinium |Named after Albert Einstein |

|Erbium |A town in Sweden |

|Europium |Named after Europe |

|Fermium |Named after Enrico Fermi |

|Fluorine |Latin "fluere" meaning flow or flux |

|Francium |Named after France |

|Gadolinium |Named after Gadolin, a Fininsh chemist |

|Gallium |Latin "gallia" meaning France |

|Germanium |Latin "germania" meaning germany |

|Gold |Latin "arum" meaning 'shining dawn' |

|Hafnium |From Hafnia, the Latin name for Copenhagen |

|Helium |Greek "helios" meaning 'the sun' where helium was first found |

|Holmium |Latin "holmia" the Latin name of Stockholm |

|Hydrogen |Greek "hyro" meaning water and "genes" meaning forming |

|Indium |From the brillant indigo line in it's spectrum |

|Iodine |Greek "iodes" meaning violet |

|Iridium |Latin "iris" meaning rainbow |

|Iron |Latin "ferrum" meaning grey |

|Krypton |Greek "kryptos" meaning hidden |

|Lanthanum |Greek "lantanein" meaning to,'lie hidden' |

|Lawrencium |After E.O. Lawrence |

|Lead |Latin "plumbum" |

|Lithium |Greek "lithos" meaning stone |

|Lutetium |From the name Lutetia, the ancient name for Paris |

|Magnesium |From the word Magnesia which is a district in Thessaly |

|Manganese |Latin "magnes" meaning magnet |

|Mendelevium |After Dmitri Mendeleev, creator of the periodic table |

|Mercury |Latin "hydrogyrum" meaning 'liquid silver' and after the planet Mercury |

|Molybdenum |Greek "molybdos" meaning 'lead' |

|Neodymium |Greek "neos" meaning 'new" and "didymus" meaning 'twin' |

|Neon |Greek "neo" meaning 'new' |

|Neptunium |After the planet Neptune |

|Nickel |German "nickel" referring to Satan or 'Old Nick' |

|Niobium |After 'Niobe' daughter of Tantalus in Greek mythology |

|Nobelium |Named after Alfred Nobel, creator of the Nobel Peace Prize |

|Osmium |Greek "osme" meaning smell |

|Oxygen |Greek "oxys" meaning 'sharp or acid' and "genes" meaning 'forming' |

|Palladium |Named after the asteroid 'Pallus' |

|Phosphorus |Greek "phosphoros" meaning light-bearing, ancient name for the planet Venus |

|Platinum |Spanish "platina" meaning silver |

|Plutonium |After the planet Pluto |

|Polonium |After Poland |

|Praseodymium   |Greek "prasios" meaning 'green' and "Didymus" meaning 'twin' |

|Promethium |After Prometheus, who according to Greek mythology stole fire from the Gods on Mount Olympus |

|Protactinium |Greek "protos" meaning 'first' |

|Radium |Latin "radius" meaning 'ray' |

|Radon |Derived from the name radium |

|Rhenium |Latin "rhenus" meaning  'The Rhine' |

|Rhodium |Greek "rhodon" meaning 'rose' |

|Rubidium |Latin "ribidus" meaning 'deepest red' |

|Ruthenium |Latin "Ruthenia" meaning 'Russia' |

|Samarium |Named after the mineral 'samarskite' |

|Scandium |Latin "Scandia" referring to Scandanavia |

|Selenium |Greek "selena" meaning 'moon' |

|Silicon |Latin "silex" meaning 'flint' |

|Silver |Latin "argentum" meaning 'silver' |

|Sodium |Latin "sodanum", a headache remedy |

|Strontium |Named after Strontion, a Scottish town |

|Sulphur |Latin "sulphurium" meaning 'brimstone' |

|Tantalum |Greek "Tantalos", Father of Niobe |

|Technetium |Greek "technetos" meaning 'artificial' |

|Tellurium |Latin "tellus" meaning 'earth' |

|Terbium |A village in Sweden |

|Thallium |Greek "thallus" meaning 'a green shoot or twig' |

|Thorium |Named after 'thor', the Scandanavian God of War |

|Thulium |Named after 'Thule', the most ancient name of Scandanavia |

|Tin |Latin "stannum" meaning 'tin' |

|Titanium |Latin "titan", the first sons of the Earth |

|Tungsten |Swedish "tung sten" meaning 'heavy stone' |

|Uranium |After the planet Uranus |

|Vanadium |After the Scandanavian Goddess Vanadis |

|Ytterbium |After Ytterby, a village in Sweden |

|Yttrium |Same as above |

|Zinc |German "Zink" meaning 'of obscure origin' |

|Zirconium |Arabic "zargun" meaning 'gold colour' |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download