Etymology

berkelium

B3E1R1K5E1L1I1U1M3

Today it means: A transuranic chemical element (symbol Bk) with an atomic number of 97. Full definition →

English Berkeley ← Old English leah ← Proto-West Germanic *lauh
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰerHǵós
  2. Proto-Germanic*berkō
  3. Proto-West Germanic*berku
  4. Old Englishbeorc
  5. Proto-Indo-European*lewk-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*lówkos
  7. Proto-Germanic*lauhaz
  8. Proto-West Germanic*lauh
  9. Old Englishleah
  10. EnglishBerkeley
  11. English todayberkelium

After Berkeley, California, because of discovery at UC Berkeley, + -ium.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.