Meanings
plural heliums
- uncountablechemistryThe second-lightest chemical element (symbol He), with an atomic number of 2 and atomic weight of 4.002602, a colorless, odorless and inert noble gas.
It was an enormous balloon filled with helium, that elemental gas forged from hydrogen in the nuclear furnace of the stars.
1997, Ian McEwan, Enduring Love, Vintage (1998), page 3
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna very light colorless element that is one of the six inert gasses; the most difficult gas to liquefy; occurs in economically extractable amounts in certain natural gases (as those found in Texas and Kansas)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sóh₂wl̥
- Proto-Indo-European*sh₂wél(i)yos
- Proto-Hellenic*hāwélios
- Ancient Greekἥλιος (hḗlios)
- New Latinhelium
- Englishhelium
From New Latin helium, from Ancient Greek ἥλιος (hḗlios, “sun”) (because its presence was first theorised in the Sun's atmosphere) with the suffix + -ium. Probably coined by Norman Lockyer. This suffix is unusual, because it is usually used only for metallic elements. It is likely that Lockyer, being an astronomer, was unaware of the usual chemical conventions.
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans helium
- heliumchemical element
Arabic هِيلِيُوم, هِلْيُوم
- هِيلِيُوم (hīliyūm)chemical element
- هِلْيُوم (hilyūm)chemical element
Basque helioa
- helioachemical element
Bengali হিলিয়াম
- হিলিয়াম (hiliẏam)chemical element
Bulgarian хе́лий
- хе́лий (hélij)chemical element
Catalan heli
- helichemical element
Chinese Cantonese 氦
- 氦 (hoi⁶)chemical element
Chinese Mandarin 氦, 氜
- 氦 (hài)chemical element
- 氜 (rì)chemical element
Czech helium
- heliumchemical element
Danish helium
- heliumchemical element
Dutch helium
- heliumchemical element
Esperanto heliumo, helio
- heliumochemical element
- heliochemical element
Estonian heelium
- heeliumchemical element
Finnish helium
- heliumchemical element
French hélium
- héliumchemical element
German Helium
- Heliumchemical element
Greek ήλιο
- ήλιο (ílio)chemical element
Hawaiian hiliuma
- hiliumachemical element
Hebrew הֶלְיוּם
- הֶלְיוּם (helyúm)chemical element
Hindi यानाति, हिलियम
- यानाति (yānāti)chemical element
- हिलियम (hiliyam)chemical element
Hungarian hélium
- héliumchemical element
Icelandic helín, helíum
- helínchemical element
- helíumchemical element
Indonesian helium
- heliumchemical element
Irish héiliam
- héiliamchemical element
Italian elio
- eliochemical element
Japanese ヘリウム
- ヘリウム (heriumu)chemical element
Korean 헬륨
- 헬륨 (hellyum)chemical element
Latin helium
- heliumchemical element
Latvian hēlijs
- hēlijschemical element
Lithuanian helis
- helischemical element
Malay helium
- heliumchemical element
Māori haumāmā
- haumāmāchemical element
Norwegian Bokmål helium
- heliumchemical element
Persian هلیم
- هلیم (heliyom)chemical element
Polish hel
- helchemical element
Portuguese hélio
- héliochemical element
Punjabi ਹੀਲਿਅਮ, ہیلیم
- ਹੀਲਿਅਮ (hīliama)chemical element
- ہیلیم (helīm)chemical element
Romanian heliu
- heliuchemical element
Russian ге́лий
- ге́лий (gélij)chemical element
Scottish Gaelic hèiliam
- hèiliamchemical element
Slovak hélium
- héliumchemical element
Spanish helio
- heliochemical element
Swahili heliamu
- heliamuchemical element
Swedish helium
- heliumchemical element
Tagalog elyo
- elyochemical element
Tamil ஹீலியம், பரிதியம்
- ஹீலியம் (hīliyam)chemical element
- பரிதியம் (paritiyam)chemical element
Thai ฮีเลียม
- ฮีเลียม (hii-lîiam)chemical element
Turkish helyum
- helyumchemical element
Ukrainian ге́лій
- ге́лій (hélij)chemical element
Urdu ہیلیم
- ہیلیم (hiliyam)chemical element
Vietnamese heli, hêli
- helichemical element
- hêlichemical element
Welsh heliwm
- heliwmchemical element
Yiddish העליום
- העליום (helyum)chemical element
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with helium
Cite this entry
helium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/helium
“helium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/helium. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “helium,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/helium.
Source: helium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.