barium

Where does the word "barium" come from? It comes from Greek barys, and was adopted directly into English (1808).

Barium’s story begins in Greek: barys meant “heavy.” Heavy, describing the notably dense mineral from which the element was isolated. It reached English by 1808 as barium. Coined by chemist Humphry Davy for the newly isolated dense metal. Today, barium means a soft, silvery-white reactive metallic element.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient barys "heavy", heavy, describing the notably dense mineral from which the element was isolated.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1808 barium "a dense, reactive silvery-white metal", coined by chemist Humphry Davy for the newly isolated dense metal.