tungsten

Where does the word "tungsten" come from? It comes from Swedish tung sten, and was adopted directly into English (1700s).

Tungsten’s story begins in Swedish: tung sten meant “heavy stone.” Literally "heavy stone", describing the dense mineral. It reached English by 1700s as tungsten. Swedish 'heavy stone'; its symbol W comes from 'wolfram'. Today, tungsten means a hard, dense metallic element used in light bulb filaments and tools.

1. Stage 1 · Swedish · 1700s tung sten "heavy stone", literally "heavy stone", describing the dense mineral.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1700s tungsten "a dense, hard metallic element", Swedish 'heavy stone'; its symbol W comes from 'wolfram'.