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Where does the word "isotope" come from? It comes from Greek isos topos, and was adopted directly into English (1913).
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Where does the word "isotope" come from? It comes from Greek isos topos, and was adopted directly into English (1913).
Isotope’s story begins in Greek: isos topos meant “same place.” Greek: same place in the periodic table. It reached English by 1913 as isotope. Coined by Margaret Todd for the chemist Frederick Soddy. Today, isotope means one of two or more forms of an element.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient isos topos "same place", Greek: same place in the periodic table.
- Stage 2 · English · 1913 isotope "same-element variant", coined by Margaret Todd for the chemist Frederick Soddy.