calcium

Etymology

It is from New Latin calcium, coined in 1808 by the English chemist Humphry Davy, who first isolated the metal,^[2][3][4] from Latin calx (“lime, limestone”) (stem calc-) and the metal suffix -ium.^[5][6][7] The name refers to the element's presence in limestone.^[3] Ayto takes the Latin word probably from Ancient Greek χάλιξ (khálix, “pebble; limestone”).^[4] The same Latin noun gave chalk, calculate and calculus.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The chemical element, an alkaline earth metal: 1808, in Davy's paper in the Philosophical Transactions.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The element was named as soon as it was isolated, and its sense has not changed.^[5][3] Barnhart notes that its compounds, in mortar, had been valued since ancient times.^[3]

Timeline

• 1808 – coined by Davy for the newly isolated metal.^[5][2][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A soft, silvery-white, reactive metallic element of the alkaline earth group, atomic number 20, symbol Ca, found in limestone and gypsum and a basic component of most animals and plants.

Word family

• calcic
• calcium arsenate
• calcium carbide
• calcium carbonate

Related words

• calcite
• calx
• calculus
• chalk
• calculate
• calcareous

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
5. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press