uranium

Forms

ūranium n (genitive ūraniī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from New Latin Ūranus + -ium: the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth named it in 1789 in Modern Latin after the planet Uranus, which had been found shortly before.^[2][3] The planet's name comes from Ancient Greek Οὐρανός (Ouranós), the sky god.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It was coined in 1789 by Klaproth as the name of the new element.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the Latin name of the radioactive chemical element with atomic number 92,^[3][1] and English took it over in 1797.^[2]

Timeline

• 1789 – Klaproth names the element uranium after the planet Uranus.^[2]
• 1797 – The word is first recorded in English.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (New Latin) uranium, a radioactive chemical element.^[1][3]

Usage notes

Unrelated to the element is Ūranium, the name of a town in Caria that Pliny the Elder mentions.^[4][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Victionarium (Latin Wiktionary), la.wiktionary.org
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.