Meanings
- uncountablechemistryA strongly radioactive and highly fissile transuranic chemical element (symbol Cf) with an atomic number of 98.
- countablechemistryAn atom of this element.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna radioactive transuranic element; discovered by bombarding curium with alpha particles
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Semitic*ḫalap-
- Arabicخَلَفَ (ḵalafa)
- Arabicخَلِيفَة (ḵalīfa)
- Medieval Latincalīpha
- Old Frenchcaliphe
- Middle Frenchcalife
- Frenchcalife
- Spanishcalifa
- SpanishCalifornia
- EnglishCalifornia
- Englishcalifornium
From California + -ium. The element was first synthesized at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (then the University of California Radiation Laboratory), thus named after the university and the U.S. state of California.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans kalifornium
- kaliforniumchemical element
Arabic كَالِيفُورْنِيُوم, كَلِيفُورْنِيُوم
- كَالِيفُورْنِيُوم (kālīfūrniyūm)chemical element
- كَلِيفُورْنِيُوم (kalīfūrniyūm)chemical element
Basque kalifornioa
- kalifornioachemical element
Bulgarian калифо́рний
- калифо́рний (kalifórnij)chemical element
Catalan californi
- californichemical element
Chinese Mandarin 鉲 /𰽩
- 鉲 /𰽩 (kāi)chemical element
Czech kalifornium
- kaliforniumchemical element
Danish californium
- californiumchemical element
Dutch californium
- californiumchemical element
Esperanto kaliforniumo
- kaliforniumochemical element
Estonian kalifornium
- kaliforniumchemical element
Finnish kalifornium
- kaliforniumchemical element
French californium
- californiumchemical element
German Californium
- Californiumchemical element
Greek καλιφόρνιο
- καλιφόρνιο (kalifórnio)chemical element
Hebrew קליפורניום
- קליפורניום (kalifórniyum)chemical element
Hungarian kalifornium
- kaliforniumchemical element
Icelandic kalifornín
- kalifornínchemical element
Irish calafoirniam
- calafoirniamchemical element
Italian californio
- californiochemical element
Japanese カリホルニウム
- カリホルニウム (karihoruniumu)chemical element
Korean 칼리포르늄, 캘리포늄
- 칼리포르늄 (kalliporeunyum)chemical element
- 캘리포늄 (kaelliponyum)chemical element
Latin californium
- californiumchemical element
Latvian kalifornijs
- kalifornijschemical element
Lithuanian kalifornis
- kalifornischemical element
Malay kalifornium
- kaliforniumchemical element
Norwegian californium
- californiumchemical element
Persian کالیفرنیم
- کالیفرنیم (kâliforniom)chemical element
Polish kaliforn
- kalifornchemical element
Portuguese califórnio
- califórniochemical element
Romanian californiu
- californiuchemical element
Russian калифо́рний
- калифо́рний (kalifórnij)chemical element
Scottish Gaelic calafoirniam
- calafoirniamchemical element
Slovak kalifornium
- kaliforniumchemical element
Spanish californio
- californiochemical element
Swedish californium
- californiumchemical element
Tamil கலிபோர்ணியம்
- கலிபோர்ணியம் (kalipōrṇiyam)chemical element
Thai แคลิฟอร์เนียม
- แคลิฟอร์เนียม (kɛɛ-lí-fɔɔ-nîiam)chemical element
Turkish kaliforniyum
- kaliforniyumchemical element
Ukrainian каліфо́рній
- каліфо́рній (kalifórnij)chemical element
Vietnamese califoni
- califonichemical element
Welsh califforniwm
- califforniwmchemical element
Cite this entry
californium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/californium
“californium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/californium. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “californium,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/californium.
Source: californium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.