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Elements named after a property

Several elements were named directly for an observable property at the moment of discovery: a colour, a smell, a weight, a reactivity or a behaviour. Examples include chlorine (Greek chloros, pale green), bromine (Greek bromos, stench), argon (Greek argos, lazy) and indium (Latin indicum, indigo). This page lists every element whose name describes one of its physical or chemical traits.

Back to name origins

Name source

Mineral Astronomical body Mythology Person Place Properties

Language of origin

Greek Latin Russian English German Swedish Japanese Anglo-Saxon Spanish Norse Arabic
No. Symbol Element Original word Meaning Language Named by
1 H Hydrogen hydor + genes Water-forming Greek Antoine Lavoisier (1783)
3 Li Lithium lithos Stone Greek
6 C Carbon carbo Charcoal Latin
7 N Nitrogen nitron + genes Nitre-forming Greek Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1790)
8 O Oxygen oxys + genes Acid-forming Greek Antoine Lavoisier (1777)
9 F Fluorine fluere To flow Latin Humphry Davy, André-Marie Ampère
10 Ne Neon neos New Greek
11 Na Sodium soda Soda English
13 Al Aluminium alumen Bitter salt Latin Humphry Davy (1812)
15 P Phosphorus phosphoros Bringer of light Greek
16 S Sulfur sulpur Brimstone Latin
17 Cl Chlorine chloros Greenish-yellow Greek Sir Humphry Davy (1810)
18 Ar Argon argos Idle Greek
19 K Potassium potash Potash English
24 Cr Chromium chroma Colour Greek
25 Mn Manganese magnes Magnet Latin
26 Fe Iron iren Iren Anglo-Saxon
30 Zn Zinc zink Zink German Paracelsus
35 Br Bromine bromos Stench Greek
36 Kr Krypton kryptos Hidden Greek
37 Rb Rubidium rubidus Dark red Latin
40 Zr Zirconium zargun Gold-like Arabic
42 Mo Molybdenum molybdos Lead Greek Peter Jacob Hjelm (1781)
43 Tc Technetium technetos Artificial Greek
45 Rh Rhodium rhodon Rose-coloured Greek
47 Ag Silver seolfor Seolfor Anglo-Saxon
49 In Indium indicum Indigo Latin
50 Sn Tin tin Tin Anglo-Saxon
51 Sb Antimony anti + monos Not alone Greek
53 I Iodine iodes Violet Greek Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (1813)
54 Xe Xenon xenos Stranger Greek William Ramsay (1898)
55 Cs Cesium caesius Sky blue Latin
56 Ba Barium barys Heavy Greek Humphry Davy (1808)
57 La Lanthanum lanthanein Lie hidden Greek Carl Gustaf Mosander (1839)
59 Pr Praseodymium prasios + didymos Green twin Greek
60 Nd Neodymium neos + didymos New twin Greek
66 Dy Dysprosium dysprositos Hard to obtain Greek Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1886)
74 W Tungsten tung sten Heavy stone Swedish Torbern Bergman (1781)
76 Os Osmium osme Smell Greek Smithson Tennant
78 Pt Platinum platina Little silver Spanish
79 Au Gold gold Gold Anglo-Saxon
81 Tl Thallium thallos Green twig Greek
82 Pb Lead lead Lead Anglo-Saxon
83 Bi Bismuth wismuth White mass German
85 At Astatine astatos Unstable Greek
86 Rn Radon radius From radium Latin
88 Ra Radium radius Ray Latin
89 Ac Actinium aktinos Ray Greek André-Louis Debierne (1899)
91 Pa Protactinium protos + aktinos First ray Greek Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner (1917)