Etymology

calcium

C3A1L1C3I1U1M3

Today it means: The chemical element (symbol Ca) with atomic number 20: a soft, silvery-white alkaline earth metal which occurs naturally as carbonate in limestone and as silicate in many rocks. Full definition →

Latin calx ← Ancient Greek χᾰ́λῐξ (khắlĭx)bor.?
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekχᾰ́λῐξ (khắlĭx)bor.?
  2. Latincalx
  3. English todaycalcium

Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, from Latin calx (“lime, limestone”) because it occurs in limestone. By surface analysis, calc- + -ium.

Words from the same roots

Latincalx all →

chalkcausewaycalcitecalichecalcaneumcalcographycalthemitecaltropcalx

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.