lithium
/ˈlɪθiəm/
noun
Origin
Ancient Greek
λίθος (lithos) — stone
Overview
Meaning Now
- A soft, silver-white, highly reactive alkali metal, the lightest of all metals.
- A chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3, commonly used in rechargeable batteries.
Literal older meaning
stone-like substance
Language path
Ancient Greek → Modern Latin → English
Earliest form
lithium
Earliest period
1818
Journey
Lithium was discovered in the mineral petalite by Johan August Arfwedson in 1817. Unlike other alkali metals found in plant ashes, this was first identified in a mineral, hence the name reflecting its 'stony' origin.
Evolution
- Ancient Greek
λίθος
“stone”
Base for botanical and mineralogical terminology
- 1817
lithion
“alkaline substance derived from petalite”
Coined by Arfwedson from petalite mineral
- 1818
lithium
“the element itself”
Standardized suffix -ium added for metallic elements
Connections
Word parts
lith-
root
stone
-ium
suffix
metallic element
Related across languages
Swedish
litium
lithium
German
lithium
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Related to lithium
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.