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Most individuals, when asked about chemistry will call it difficult and hard to understand.
This is mainly because they do not understand the language of chemistry. The building blocks
that make up the language of chemistry are the elements themselves. This is evident in how
elements are assembled and organized to create the world around us. At times this language
can be confusing and hard to understand. But by understanding the rules that govern the nature
of creation one can have a better understanding of the world around us. One way to increase
that understanding is to understand the language of the elements, what the words mean, and
where their symbols come from. Because the periodic table is full of elements from different
languages, this too can seem daunting. Here is a small break down of some of the more
confusing bits.
Sodium has the symbol Na. While this may seem unrelated to its name, it actually comes
from the Latin name for sodium, ‘natrium’. This Latin name, however, has been further derived
from the Greek word for sodium carbonate, ‘nitron’, and the Arabic word, ‘natrun’ (Compound
Interest, 2016).
Potassium has the symbol K, but potassium does not start with K. The Latin name,
‘kalium’, does. This too has an Arabic root, as the word comes from ‘al qaliy,’ or “calcined
ashes” (Compound Interest, 2016). ‘Potassium’ comes from the English word ‘potash,’ from
Iron has many names in many languages, hundreds even. This is due to it being known
and used by many since prehistoric times. But it’s from its Latin name, ‘ferrum’, that it gets its
Copper has the symbol Cu. This comes from the word ‘cuprum,’ which was in turn
simplified from the Latin name for the island of Cyprus, ‘cyprium.’ This name was in turn taken
from the Greek ‘kypros.’ This is because Cyprus was once famous for its copper reserves
Silver’s symbol, Ag, comes from its Latin name, ‘argentum.’ This, and the Greek word,
‘argyros,’ have Indo-European roots from the word ‘arg-u-ro.’ This element too has many names
due to its long history of usage (Van der Krogt, 2016). The country of Argentina is named after
this metal and is the only place to be named after an element (Compound Interest, 2016).
The element tin has the symbol Sn. This comes from tin’s Latin name, ‘stannum,’ but
that’s as far as we know for sure. It may have derived from the Indo-European word ‘stag,’
which means “dripping”. This could be in reference to tin’s low melting point. However, there is
also the argument that it comes from Cornish ‘stean,’ due to their tin mines, but others believe
The symbol for antimony, Sb, also comes from Latin. The Latin word ‘stibium’ comes
from the Greek word for eye paint, ‘stibi.’ This is because antimony was frequently used in
ancient eye cosmetics (Compound Interest, 2016). Though the most common name for
antimony is ‘antimonium’ the symbol Sb for ‘stibium’ was used in an early essay and it stuck
Tungsten has the symbol W, for ‘wolfram’. Tungsten acquired this name from the mineral
it was found in, ‘wolframite.’ This is from a German word meaning “wolf’s foam,” likely due to the
amount of tin required for the metal to be extracted. While ‘wolfram’ is still in use in several
languages, the Swedish ‘tungsten’ or “heavy stone” was chosen (Compound Interest, 2016).
Gold’s Latin name, ‘aurum,’ is responsible for gold’s symbol, Au. ‘Aurum’ means “yellow”
and comes from the word for “dawn,” ‘aurora.’ Germanic languages use ‘gold,’ but many other
European languages use words stemming from ‘aurum’ (Compound Interest, 2016).
Mercury’s symbol is Hg, and it comes from its second Latin name. Its first Latin name
was ‘argentum vivum,’ or “living silver,” but Latin later replaced this word in favor of
‘hydrargyrum.’ This word comes from the Greek word for “liquid silver,” ‘hydrargyros.’ The name
Mercury comes from the alchemists, who considered the metal close to gold and so named it
Lead has the symbol Pb. This comes from its Latin name, ‘plumbum.’ We don’t know
where it comes from beyond that (Compound Interest 2016). It is likely from a language before
Ancient Greek from the Aegeic area. Lead has been around since ancient times and has many
While all the multiple names for the same element, and seemingly mismatched names
and symbols can be confusing, taking the time to understand them will increase one’s ability to
read the language of chemistry. This will, in turn, open doorways of understanding into many
scientific disciplines.
Works Cited
jlab.org/itselemental/ele019.html
Van der Krogt, Peter (2016). The Chemical Elements. Retrieved from https://ele
ments.vanderkrogt.net/list_element.php