aluminum

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈluː.mɪ.nəm/^[1]

Etymology

It was coined in 1812 by its discoverer, the British chemist Sir Humphry Davy,^[2][3][4] as an alteration of his earlier New Latin alumium (1808),^[2][3][5] from alumina, aluminium oxide, a name given by French chemists in the late 18th century,^[3] and -ium, a suffix for metals.^[2] Alumina is from alūmen (“alum”) (see alum).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The metal: 1812 in the OED and Barnhart, 1810 in Merriam-Webster.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The variant aluminium appeared in 1812 too, as a deliberate change to match other element names such as sodium, potassium and magnesium, all coined earlier by Davy;^[2][3] it became the preferred British form, while aluminum remains the American word.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1808 – alumium.^[2][3]
• 1812 – aluminum; aluminium.^[2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A light, silvery-white metallic element, the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust, found chiefly in bauxite.

Word family

• ferroaluminum

Related words

• aluminium
• alumina
• alum

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster