Meanings
nounpotassium (usually uncountable, plural potassiums)
plural potassiums
- uncountableusuallyA soft, waxy, silvery reactive metal that is never found unbound in nature; an element with atomic number 19 and atomic weight of 39.0983.
We all need potassium, and green vegetables are a good source.
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
nouna light soft silver-white metallic element of the alkali metal group; oxidizes rapidly in air and reacts violently with water; is abundant in nature in combined forms occurring in sea water and in carnallite and kainite and sylvite
Similar
Katomic number 19
Broader
metallic elementmetal
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*puttaz
- Frankish*pott
- Old Dutch*pot
- Middle Dutchpot
- Dutchpot
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂eHs-der.?
- Proto-Germanic*askǭ
- Proto-West Germanic*askā
- Old Dutch*aska
- Middle Dutchasche
- Dutchas
- Dutchpotas
- Dutchpotasch
- Englishpotassa
- Englishpotassium
Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1807, from potassa (a Latinized form of potash) + -ium.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans kalium
- kaliumthe chemical element
Arabic بُوتَاسِيُوم
- بُوتَاسِيُوم (būtāsiyūm)the chemical element
Basque potasio
- potasiothe chemical element
Bengali পটাশিয়াম
- পটাশিয়াম (poṭaśiẏam)the chemical element
Bulgarian ка́лий
- ка́лий (kálij)the chemical element
Catalan potassi
- potassithe chemical element
Chinese Cantonese 鉀 /钾
- 鉀 /钾 (gaap³)the chemical element
Chinese Mandarin 鉀 /钾
- 鉀 /钾 (jiǎ)the chemical element
Czech draslík
- draslíkthe chemical element
Danish kalium
- kaliumthe chemical element
Dutch kalium, potas
- kaliumthe chemical element
- potasthe chemical element
Esperanto kalio
- kaliothe chemical element
Estonian kaalium
- kaaliumthe chemical element
Finnish kalium
- kaliumthe chemical element
French potassium
- potassiumthe chemical element
German Kalium
- Kaliumthe chemical element
Greek κάλιο
- κάλιο (kálio)the chemical element
Hawaiian pokakiuma
- pokakiumathe chemical element
Hebrew אַשְׁלְגָן
- אַשְׁלְגָן (ashlegán)the chemical element
Hindi दहातु, पोटैशियम
- दहातु (dahātu)the chemical element
- पोटैशियम (poṭaiśiyam)the chemical element
- उखाभस्मज (ukhābhasmaj)the chemical element
Hungarian kálium
- káliumthe chemical element
Icelandic kalín, kalíum
- kalínthe chemical element
- kalíumthe chemical element
Indonesian kalium, potasium
- kaliumthe chemical element
- potasiumthe chemical element
Irish potaisiam
- potaisiamthe chemical element
Italian potassio
- potassiothe chemical element
Japanese カリウム
- カリウム (kariumu)the chemical element
Korean 칼륨, 칼리
- 칼륨 (kallyum)the chemical element
- 칼리 (kalli)the chemical element
- 포타슘 (potasyum)the chemical element
- 가리 (gari)the chemical element
Latin kalium, potassium
- kaliumthe chemical element
- potassiumthe chemical element
Latvian kālijs
- kālijsthe chemical element
Lithuanian kalis
- kalisthe chemical element
Malay kalium
- kaliumthe chemical element
Māori konurehu
- konurehuthe chemical element
Norwegian Bokmål kalium
- kaliumthe chemical element
Persian پتاسیم
- پتاسیم (potâsiyom)the chemical element
Polish potas
- potasthe chemical element
Portuguese potássio
- potássiothe chemical element
Punjabi ਪੋਟਾਸ਼ੀਅਮ
- ਪੋਟਾਸ਼ੀਅਮ (poṭāśīama)the chemical element
Romanian potasiu, kaliu
- potasiuthe chemical element
- kaliuthe chemical element
Russian ка́лий
- ка́лий (kálij)the chemical element
Scottish Gaelic potaisiam
- potaisiamthe chemical element
Slovak draslík
- draslíkthe chemical element
Spanish potasio
- potasiothe chemical element
Swahili potasiamu
- potasiamuthe chemical element
Swedish kalium
- kaliumthe chemical element
Tagalog potasyo
- potasyothe chemical element
Tamil வெடியம், பொட்டாசியம்
- வெடியம் (veṭiyam)the chemical element
- பொட்டாசியம் (poṭṭāciyam)the chemical element
Thai โพแทสเซียม
- โพแทสเซียม (poo-tɛ́ɛs-sîiam)the chemical element
Turkish potasyum
- potasyumthe chemical element
Ukrainian ка́лій
- ка́лій (kálij)the chemical element
Vietnamese kali
- kalithe chemical element
Welsh potasiwm
- potasiwmthe chemical element
Yiddish קאַליום, פּאָטאַסיום
- קאַליום (kalyum)the chemical element
- פּאָטאַסיום (potasyum)the chemical element
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
potassium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potassium
MLA
“potassium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potassium. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “potassium,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/potassium.
Source: potassium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.