sodium

Where does the word "sodium" come from? It comes from Arabic suwwad, passing through Medieval Latin before entering English (1807).

Sodium’s story begins in Arabic: suwwad meant “a soda-yielding plant.” A plant whose ashes yielded soda, used in glassmaking and soap. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Medieval Latin as soda. Carried into Latin for the alkaline substance derived from the plant. It reached English by 1807 as sodium. Coined by chemist Humphry Davy for the metal isolated from soda. Today, sodium means a soft, reactive silvery-white metallic element, essential to living organisms.

1. Stage 1 · Arabic · medieval suwwad "a soda-yielding plant", a plant whose ashes yielded soda, used in glassmaking and soap.
2. Stage 2 · Medieval Latin · medieval soda "an alkaline mineral salt", carried into Latin for the alkaline substance derived from the plant.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1807 sodium "a soft, reactive silvery-white metallic element", coined by chemist Humphry Davy for the metal isolated from soda.