Elements with names from Greek

Greek roots form the largest single source of element names. Words like hydro (water), chloros (pale green), argos (lazy), kryptos (hidden) and helios (sun) shaped how chemists labelled new discoveries from the late 18th century onwards. About a third of the modern names trace back to Greek.

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Name source

Mineral Astronomical body Mythology Person Place Properties

Language of origin

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No.	Symbol	Element	Original word	Meaning	Name source	Named by
1	H	Hydrogen	hydor + genes	Water-forming	Properties	Antoine Lavoisier (1783)
2	He	Helium	helios	Sun	Astronomical body	Edward Frankland, Norman Lockyer (1868)
3	Li	Lithium	lithos	Stone	Properties
4	Be	Beryllium	beryllos	Beryl	Mineral
7	N	Nitrogen	nitron + genes	Nitre-forming	Properties	Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1790)
8	O	Oxygen	oxys + genes	Acid-forming	Properties	Antoine Lavoisier (1777)
10	Ne	Neon	neos	New	Properties
12	Mg	Magnesium	Magnesia	Magnesia district	Place	Humphry Davy (1812)
15	P	Phosphorus	phosphoros	Bringer of light	Properties
17	Cl	Chlorine	chloros	Greenish-yellow	Properties	Sir Humphry Davy (1810)
18	Ar	Argon	argos	Idle	Properties
22	Ti	Titanium	Titanes	Titans	Mythology	Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1795)
24	Cr	Chromium	chroma	Colour	Properties
33	As	Arsenic	arsenikon	Orpiment	Mineral
34	Se	Selenium	Selene	Moon	Astronomical body
35	Br	Bromine	bromos	Stench	Properties
36	Kr	Krypton	kryptos	Hidden	Properties
41	Nb	Niobium	Niobe	Niobe	Mythology
42	Mo	Molybdenum	molybdos	Lead	Properties	Peter Jacob Hjelm (1781)
43	Tc	Technetium	technetos	Artificial	Properties
45	Rh	Rhodium	rhodon	Rose-coloured	Properties
46	Pd	Palladium	Pallas	Pallas (asteroid)	Astronomical body
51	Sb	Antimony	anti + monos	Not alone	Properties
53	I	Iodine	iodes	Violet	Properties	Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1813)
54	Xe	Xenon	xenos	Stranger	Properties	William Ramsay (1898)
56	Ba	Barium	barys	Heavy	Properties	Humphry Davy (1808)
57	La	Lanthanum	lanthanein	Lie hidden	Properties	Carl Gustaf Mosander (1839)
59	Pr	Praseodymium	prasios + didymos	Green twin	Properties
60	Nd	Neodymium	neos + didymos	New twin	Properties
61	Pm	Promethium	Prometheus	Prometheus	Mythology	Grace Mary Coryell (1945)
63	Eu	Europium	Europe	Europe	Place
66	Dy	Dysprosium	dysprositos	Hard to obtain	Properties	Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1886)
69	Tm	Thulium	Thule	Thule (northern lands)	Place
73	Ta	Tantalum	Tantalos	Tantalus	Mythology
76	Os	Osmium	osme	Smell	Properties	Smithson Tennant
77	Ir	Iridium	Iris	Iris	Mythology
81	Tl	Thallium	thallos	Green twig	Properties
85	At	Astatine	astatos	Unstable	Properties
89	Ac	Actinium	aktinos	Ray	Properties	André-Louis Debierne (1899)
91	Pa	Protactinium	protos + aktinos	First ray	Properties	Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner (1917)

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Elements with names from Greek

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Language of origin