Etymology

rutherfordium

R1U1T1H4E1R1F4O1R1D2I1U1M3

Today it means: A transuranic chemical element (symbol Rf) with an atomic number of 104. Full definition →

English Rutherford ← Old English ford ← Proto-West Germanic *furdu
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱer-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱerh₂-
  3. Proto-Germanic*hrinþaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*hrinþ
  5. Proto-West Germanic*hrinþiʀu
  6. Proto-West Germanic*hrinþiʀ
  7. Old Englishhryþer
  8. Proto-Indo-European*per-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*pértus
  10. Proto-Germanic*furduz
  11. Proto-West Germanic*furdu
  12. Old Englishford
  13. EnglishRutherford
  14. English todayrutherfordium

From Rutherford + -ium, named for Ernest Rutherford.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.