Etymology

radium

rad·i·um
R1A1D2I1U1M3

Today it means: The chemical element (symbol Ra) with an atomic number of 88. It is a soft, shiny and silvery radioactive alkaline earth metal. Full definition →

French radium ← Old French actif ← Latin āctīvu
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The story

  1. Latinradius
  2. Frenchradio-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  5. Proto-Italic*agō
  6. Latinagō
  7. Ancient Greekἐνεργητικός (energētikós)
  8. Latināctīvu
  9. Old Frenchactif
  10. Frenchactif
  11. Frenchradio(actif)
  12. Frenchradium
  13. English todayradium

Borrowed from French radium, from rad(ioactif) (“radioactive”) + -ium (suffix used to form the names of metallic elements).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.