Chemical elements from common nouns

Chemical elements from common nouns

Elements from English roots
Elementa.n.symbolfromorigin of symbol
potassium 19 K potash Latin kalium
iron 26 Fe iron Latin ferrum
silver 47 Ag silver Latin argentum
tin 50 Sn tin Latin stannum
gold 79 Au gold Latin aurum
lead 82 Pb lead Latin plumbum



Elements from Greek roots
Elementa.n.symbolfrom Greekmeaning in English
hydrogen 1 H udro genhV water-forming
lithium 3 Li liqoV stone
beryllium 4 Be bhrullos the mineral beryl
nitrogen 7 N nitron genhV nitre-forming
oxygen 8 O oxuV genhV acid-forming
neon 10 Ne neoV new
chlorine 17 Cl clwros greenish-yellow
argon 18 Ar argoV inactive
chromium 24 Cr crwma color
bromine 35 Br brwmoV stench
krypton 36 Kr kruptoV hidden
molybdenum 42 Mo molubdoV lead
technetium 43 Tc tecnhtoV artificial
rhodium 45 Rh rodon rose
cadmium 48 Cd kadmeia the mineral calamine
antimony 48 Sb* anti monoV not alone
iodine 53 I iwdhV violet
xenon 54 Xe xenon stranger
barium 56 Ba baruV heavy
lanthanum 57 La lanqanein to hide
praseodymium 59 Pr prasioV didumoV green twin
neodymium 60 Nd neoV didumoV new twin
dysprosium 66 Dy dusprositoV hard to get at
osmium 76 Os osmh odor
thallium 81 Tl qalloV green shoot
astatine 85 At astatoV unstable
actinium 89 Ac aktiV ray
protactinium 91 Pa prwtoV first

*Sb is from Latin stibium

Elements from Latin roots
Elementa.n.symbolfrom Latinmeaning in English
carbon 6 C carbo charcoal
fluorine 9 F fluere to flow
aluminum 13 Al alumen alum
silicon 14 Si silex flint
sulfur 16 S sulfur sulfur
calcium 20 Ca calx lime
rubidium 37 Rb rubidus deep red
cesium 55 Cs caesius sky-blue
iridium 77 Ir iris rainbow
radon 86 Rn radius ray
radium 88 Ra radius ray



Elements from other languages
Elementa.n.symbolfrommeaning in English
boron 5 B Persian burah borax
sodium 11 Na* Persian surach saltwort
zinc 30 Zn German Zink [origin uncertain]
arsenic 33 As Persian zerni-zar gold
zirconium 40 Zr Persian zargun golden
tungsten 74 W† Swedish tung sten heavy stone
platinum 78 Pt Spanish plata silver
bismuth 83 Bi German Weisse Masse white mass

*Na is from Latin natrium
W is from "wolframite", or uncertain origin