Kalium
/ˈkeɪliəm/noun
The Latin-derived name for the chemical element potassium, whose symbol is K.
Did you know?Potassium’s symbol K comes from kalium because the modern English name and the Latin-derived scientific name took different historical paths.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Arabic
Arabic
al-qaly / القلي
“Plant ashes, especially ashes used in preparing alkaline substances”
Medieval Latin
Latin
qali / kali
“Alkaline ash or soda-like material borrowed from Arabic”
18th Century
Scientific Latin
kalium
“A coined Latin-form name based on kali, used for the newly distinguished element”
1807
English
potassium
“The element isolated by Humphry Davy from potash; the English name developed separately from kalium”
Modern English
English
kalium
“The international scientific name reflected by the chemical symbol K, while potassium is the usual English name”
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