List of chemical element name etymologies

From WikiMD's Wellness Encyclopedia

Simple_Periodic_Table_Chart-blocks

== List of Chemical Element Name Etymologies ==

The names of chemical elements are derived from a variety of sources, including Latin, Greek, mythology, geography, and the names of scientists. This list provides the etymology of the names of the chemical elements.

Elements Named After Mythological Figures[edit | edit source]

  • Thorium (Th) - Named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder.
  • Tantalum (Ta) - Named after Tantalus, a figure from Greek mythology.
  • Promethium (Pm) - Named after Prometheus, a Titan in Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans.
  • Niobium (Nb) - Named after Niobe, daughter of Tantalus in Greek mythology.

Elements Named After Places[edit | edit source]

Elements Named After Scientists[edit | edit source]

Elements Named After Colors[edit | edit source]

  • Chlorine (Cl) - Derived from the Greek word "chloros," meaning green.
  • Iodine (I) - Derived from the Greek word "iodes," meaning violet.
  • Rhodium (Rh) - Derived from the Greek word "rhodon," meaning rose.

Elements Named After Properties[edit | edit source]

  • Hydrogen (H) - Derived from the Greek words "hydro" and "genes," meaning water-forming.
  • Oxygen (O) - Derived from the Greek words "oxys" and "genes," meaning acid-forming.
  • Nitrogen (N) - Derived from the Greek words "nitron" and "genes," meaning nitre-forming.

Elements Named After Minerals[edit | edit source]

  • Lithium (Li) - Derived from the Greek word "lithos," meaning stone.
  • Calcium (Ca) - Derived from the Latin word "calx," meaning lime.
  • Magnesium (Mg) - Named after the mineral magnesite.

Related Pages[edit | edit source]

Group 1 2   3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Hydrogen &
alkali metals
Alkaline earth metals Triels Tetrels Pnicto­gens Chal­co­gens Halo­gens Noble
gases
Period

1

[[

hydrogen |Hydro­gen1H1.0080]]

[[

helium |He­lium2He4.0026]]

2 [[

lithium |Lith­ium3Li6.94]]

[[

beryllium |Beryl­lium4Be9.0122]]

[[

boron |Boron5B10.81]]

[[

carbon |Carbon6C12.011]]

[[

nitrogen |Nitro­gen7N14.007]]

[[

oxygen |Oxy­gen8O15.999]]

[[

fluorine |Fluor­ine9F18.998]]

[[

neon |Neon10Ne20.180]]

3 [[

sodium |So­dium11Na22.990]]

[[

magnesium |Magne­sium12Mg24.305]]

[[

aluminium |Alumin­ium13Al26.982]]

[[

silicon |Sili­con14Si28.085]]

[[

phosphorus|Phos­phorus15P30.974]]

[[

sulfur |Sulfur16S32.06]]

[[

chlorine |Chlor­ine17Cl35.45]]

[[

argon |Argon18Ar39.95]]

4 [[

potassium |Potas­sium19K39.098]]

[[

calcium |Cal­cium20Ca40.078]]

[[

scandium |Scan­dium21Sc44.956]]

[[

titanium |Tita­nium22Ti47.867]]

[[

vanadium |Vana­dium23V50.942]]

[[

chromium |Chrom­ium24Cr51.996]]

[[

manganese |Manga­nese25Mn54.938]]

[[

iron |Iron26Fe55.845]]

[[

cobalt |Cobalt27Co58.933]]

[[

nickel |Nickel28Ni58.693]]

[[

copper |Copper29Cu63.546]]

[[

zinc |Zinc30Zn65.38]]

[[

gallium |Gallium31Ga69.723]]

[[

germanium |Germa­nium32Ge72.630]]

[[

arsenic |Arsenic33As74.922]]

[[

selenium |Sele­nium34Se78.971]]

[[

bromine |Bromine35Br79.904]]

[[

krypton |Kryp­ton36Kr83.798]]

5 [[

rubidium |Rubid­ium37Rb85.468]]

[[

strontium |Stront­ium38Sr87.62]]

[[

yttrium |Yttrium39Y88.906]]

[[

zirconium |Zirco­nium40Zr91.224]]

[[

niobium |Nio­bium41Nb92.906]]

[[

molybdenum|Molyb­denum42Mo95.95]]

[[

technetium|Tech­netium43Tc​[97]]]

[[

ruthenium |Ruthe­nium44Ru101.07]]

[[

rhodium |Rho­dium45Rh102.91]]

[[

palladium |Pallad­ium46Pd106.42]]

[[

silver |Silver47Ag107.87]]

[[

cadmium |Cad­mium48Cd112.41]]

[[

indium |Indium49In114.82]]

[[

tin |Tin50Sn118.71]]

[[

antimony |Anti­mony51Sb121.76]]

[[

tellurium |Tellur­ium52Te127.60]]

[[

iodine |Iodine53I126.90]]

[[

xenon |Xenon54Xe131.29]]

6 [[

caesium |Cae­sium55Cs132.91]]

[[

barium |Ba­rium56Ba137.33]]

1 asterisk [[

lutetium |Lute­tium71Lu174.97]]

[[

hafnium |Haf­nium72Hf178.49]]

[[

tantalum |Tanta­lum73Ta180.95]]

[[

tungsten |Tung­sten74W183.84]]

[[

rhenium |Rhe­nium75Re186.21]]

[[

osmium |Os­mium76Os190.23]]

[[

iridium |Iridium77Ir192.22]]

[[

platinum |Plat­inum78Pt195.08]]

[[

gold |Gold79Au196.97]]

[[

Mercury (element)|Mer­cury80Hg200.59]]

[[

thallium |Thallium81Tl204.38]]

[[

lead |Lead82Pb207.2]]

[[

bismuth |Bis­muth83Bi208.98]]

[[

polonium |Polo­nium84Po​[209]]]

[[

astatine |Asta­tine85At​[210]]]

[[

radon |Radon86Rn​[222]]]

7 [[

francium |Fran­cium87Fr​[223]]]

[[

radium |Ra­dium88Ra​[226]]]

1 asterisk [[

lawrencium |Lawren­cium103Lr​[266]]]

[[

rutherfordium|Ruther­fordium104Rf​[267]]]

[[

dubnium |Dub­nium105Db​[268]]]

[[

seaborgium |Sea­borgium106Sg​[269]]]

[[

bohrium |Bohr­ium107Bh​[270]]]

[[

hassium |Has­sium108Hs​[269]]]

[[

meitnerium |Meit­nerium109Mt​[278]]]

[[

darmstadtium |Darm­stadtium110Ds​[281]]]

[[

roentgenium |Roent­genium111Rg​[282]]]

[[

copernicium |Coper­nicium112Cn​[285]]]

[[

nihonium |Nihon­ium113Nh​[286]]]

[[

flerovium |Flerov­ium114Fl​[289]]]

[[

moscovium |Moscov­ium115Mc​[290]]]

[[

livermorium |Liver­morium116Lv​[293]]]

[[

tennessine |Tenness­ine117Ts​[294]]]

[[

oganesson |Oga­nesson118Og​[294]]]

1 asterisk [[

lanthanum |Lan­thanum57La138.91]]

[[

cerium |Cerium58Ce140.12]]

[[

praseodymium|Praseo­dymium59Pr140.91]]

[[

neodymium |Neo­dymium60Nd144.24]]

[[

promethium |Prome­thium61Pm​[145]]]

[[

samarium |Sama­rium62Sm150.36]]

[[

europium |Europ­ium63Eu151.96]]

[[

gadolinium |Gadolin­ium64Gd157.25]]

[[

terbium |Ter­bium65Tb158.93]]

[[

dysprosium |Dyspro­sium66Dy162.50]]

[[

holmium |Hol­mium67Ho164.93]]

[[

erbium |Erbium68Er167.26]]

[[

thulium |Thulium69Tm168.93]]

[[

ytterbium |Ytter­bium70Yb173.05]]

 
1 asterisk [[

actinium |Actin­ium89Ac​[227]]]

[[

thorium |Thor­ium90Th232.04]]

[[

protactinium|Protac­tinium91Pa231.04]]

[[

uranium |Ura­nium92U238.03]]

[[

neptunium |Neptu­nium93Np​[237]]]

[[

plutonium |Pluto­nium94Pu​[244]]]

[[

americium |Ameri­cium95Am​[243]]]

[[

curium |Curium96Cm​[247]]]

[[

berkelium |Berkel­ium97Bk​[247]]]

[[

californium |Califor­nium98Cf​[251]]]

[[

einsteinium |Einstei­nium99Es​[252]]]

[[

fermium |Fer­mium100Fm​[257]]]

[[

mendelevium|Mende­levium101Md​[258]]]

[[

nobelium |Nobel­ium102No​[259]]]


  1. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CIAAW2013
  2. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CIAAW2021
WikiMD
Navigation: Wellness - Encyclopedia - Health topics - Disease Index‏‎ - Drugs - World Directory - Gray's Anatomy - Keto diet - Recipes

Search WikiMD

Ad.Tired of being Overweight? Try W8MD's physician weight loss program.
Semaglutide (Ozempic / Wegovy and Tirzepatide (Mounjaro / Zepbound) available.
Advertise on WikiMD

WikiMD's Wellness Encyclopedia

Let Food Be Thy Medicine
Medicine Thy Food - Hippocrates

WikiMD is not a substitute for professional medical advice. See full disclaimer.
Credits:Most images are courtesy of Wikimedia commons, and templates Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY SA or similar.

Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD