platinum English · revision 13373

− It was coined in 1812 by the British chemist Sir Humphry Davy as an alteration of the earlier [[platina]] (1750), to match other metal names in -um such as tantalum,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Spanish [[m|es|platina|t=platinum]], a diminutive of plata, silver,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from Old French plate or Old Provençal plata, a sheet of metal (see [[plate]]).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)