Meanings
plural calciums
- countableuncountableThe 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.
2 more examples
Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis:[…]. The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom.
2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, archived from the original on 30 Nov 2014“This material has a specific hardness and is chemically very stable. It forms naturally from calcium alone, but bacteria accelerate the transformation into calcium carbonate,” explains Alejandro Montesinos, head of the Decarbonization, Climate Change, and Circular Economy Research Group at Tec de Monterrey and a member of the Institute of Advanced Materials and Sustainable Manufacturing.
2024 August 6, Ricardo Treviño, “Self-Healing Concrete Help Buildings Seal Themselves”, in TecScience, archived from the original on 19 Jan 2025 - countableAn atom of this element.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light; the fifth most abundant element in the earth's crust; an important component of most plants and animals
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekχᾰ́λῐξ (khắlĭx)bor.?
- Latincalx
- Englishcalcium
Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, from Latin calx (“lime, limestone”) because it occurs in limestone. By surface analysis, calc- + -ium.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans kalsium
- kalsiumchemical element of atomic number 20
Arabic كَلْسِيُوم, كَالْسِيُوم
- كَلْسِيُوم (kalsiyūm)chemical element of atomic number 20
- كَالْسِيُوم (kālsiyūm)chemical element of atomic number 20
Basque kaltzio
- kaltziochemical element of atomic number 20
Bulgarian ка́лций
- ка́лций (kálcij)chemical element of atomic number 20
Catalan calci
- calcichemical element of atomic number 20
Chinese Cantonese 鈣 /钙
- 鈣 /钙 (koi³)chemical element of atomic number 20
Chinese Mandarin 鈣 /钙
- 鈣 /钙 (gài)chemical element of atomic number 20
Czech vápník
- vápníkchemical element of atomic number 20
Danish kalcium, calcium
- kalciumchemical element of atomic number 20
- calciumchemical element of atomic number 20
Dutch calcium
- calciumchemical element of atomic number 20
Esperanto kalcio
- kalciochemical element of atomic number 20
Estonian kaltsium
- kaltsiumchemical element of atomic number 20
Finnish kalsium
- kalsiumchemical element of atomic number 20
French calcium
- calciumchemical element of atomic number 20
German Kalzium, Calcium
- Kalziumchemical element of atomic number 20
- Calciumchemical element of atomic number 20
Greek ασβέστιο
- ασβέστιο (asvéstio)chemical element of atomic number 20
Hawaiian puna
- punachemical element of atomic number 20
Hebrew סידן, קלציום
- סידן (sidán)chemical element of atomic number 20
- קלציום (qáltzium)chemical element of atomic number 20
Hindi चूर्णातु
- चूर्णातु (cūrṇātu)chemical element of atomic number 20
Hungarian kalcium
- kalciumchemical element of atomic number 20
Icelandic kalsín
- kalsínchemical element of atomic number 20
Indonesian kalsium, zat kapur
- kalsiumchemical element of atomic number 20
- zat kapurchemical element of atomic number 20
Irish cailciam
- cailciamchemical element of atomic number 20
Italian calcio
- calciochemical element of atomic number 20
Japanese カルシウム, 石灰素
- カルシウム (karushiumu)chemical element of atomic number 20
- 石灰素 (sekkaiso)chemical element of atomic number 20
Korean 칼슘
- 칼슘 (kalsyum)chemical element of atomic number 20
Latin calcium
- calciumchemical element of atomic number 20
Latvian kalcijs
- kalcijschemical element of atomic number 20
Lithuanian kalcis
- kalcischemical element of atomic number 20
Malay kalsium, zat kapur
- kalsiumchemical element of atomic number 20
- zat kapurchemical element of atomic number 20
Māori konupūmā
- konupūmāchemical element of atomic number 20
Norwegian Bokmål kalsium
- kalsiumchemical element of atomic number 20
Persian کلسیم
- کلسیم (kalsiom)chemical element of atomic number 20
Polish wapń
- wapńchemical element of atomic number 20
Portuguese cálcio
- cálciochemical element of atomic number 20
Romanian calciu
- calciuchemical element of atomic number 20
Russian ка́льций
- ка́льций (kálʹcij)chemical element of atomic number 20
Scottish Gaelic cailceam
- cailceamchemical element of atomic number 20
Slovak vápnik
- vápnikchemical element of atomic number 20
Spanish calcio
- calciochemical element of atomic number 20
Swahili kalisiamu
- kalisiamuchemical element of atomic number 20
Swedish kalcium
- kalciumchemical element of atomic number 20
Tagalog kalsiyo
- kalsiyochemical element of atomic number 20
Tamil சுண்ணியம், கால்சியம்
- சுண்ணியம் (cuṇṇiyam)chemical element of atomic number 20
- கால்சியம் (kālciyam)chemical element of atomic number 20
Thai แคลเซียม
- แคลเซียม (kɛɛl-sîiam)chemical element of atomic number 20
Turkish kalsiyum
- kalsiyumchemical element of atomic number 20
Ukrainian ка́льцій
- ка́льцій (kálʹcij)chemical element of atomic number 20
Urdu چورناتہ
- چورناتہ (cūrṇātu)chemical element of atomic number 20
Vietnamese canxi
- canxichemical element of atomic number 20
Welsh calsiwm
- calsiwmchemical element of atomic number 20
Yiddish קאַלציום
- קאַלציום (kaltsyum)chemical element of atomic number 20
Cite this entry
calcium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calcium
“calcium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calcium. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “calcium,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/calcium.
Source: calcium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.