Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “selenium” come from?

Selenium comes from Ancient Greek Σελήνη, derived from Ancient Greek σέλας meaning "brightness," which traces to Proto-Hellenic selas-nā.

selenium (English): A nonmetallic chemical element with an atomic...

Definitions

  1. A nonmetallic chemical element with an atomic...

Ancestry of “selenium”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchséléniumselenium
2Ancient Greekσελήνηmoon; month; a moon-shaped cake
3Ancient GreekΣέλας—

Words derived from “selenium”

  • selenide
  • selenious
  • diselenide
  • seleniferous
  • organoselenium
  • selenol
  • sulfoselenide
  • seleniuret
  • triselenide
  • selenolate
  • nonselenium
  • polyselenide
  • seleninic
  • radioselenium
  • oxyselenide
  • selenonic
  • episelenide
  • diselenium
  • heptaselenide
  • protoselenide
  • selone
  • organoselenide
  • selenium
Every word from Ancient Greek Σέλας →