osmium

Where does the word "osmium" come from? It comes from Greek osme, and was adopted directly into English (1803).

Osmium’s story begins in Greek: osme meant “a smell, an odor.” A smell, since the element's oxide has a notably pungent odor. It reached English by 1803 as osmium. Coined by its discoverer for the element's pungent-smelling oxide. Today, osmium means a hard, dense, blue-grey metallic element, the densest naturally occurring element.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient osme "a smell, an odor", a smell, since the element's oxide has a notably pungent odor.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1803 osmium "a hard, dense, blue-grey metallic element", coined by its discoverer for the element's pungent-smelling oxide.