Where does “germanium” come from?
Germanium comes from Latin Germania plus the suffix -ium, from Ancient Greek -ία, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -h₂.
germanium (English): A nonmetallic chemical element with an atomic...
Definitions
- A nonmetallic chemical element with an atomic...
Ancestry of “germanium”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Germanium | germanium |
| 2 | Latin | Germānia | Germany in its various senses, including |
| 3 | Latin | Germānī | Native people or tribes of ancient Germania, mentioned by Julius Caesar and Tacitus |
| 4 | Latin | Germānus | — |
| 5 | Latin | germen | shoot, sprout, bud; germ, seed, origin; embryo,... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | genamen | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵénh₁mn̥ | offspring, seed |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵenh₁- | to produce, to beget, to give birth |