Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Selenium
/səˈliːniəm/noun
A nonmetal element, number 34, used in glassmaking and photocells and needed in the diet in trace amounts.
The Greek roots
σελήνη
selḗnē
moon
Literally: “moon-metal”
Follow a root:σελήνη5 words
The story of the word
Berzelius found it in 1817 in the red sludge at the bottom of a sulphuric acid works and took it at first for tellurium. When it proved to be new he named it after the moon, because tellurium had been named after the earth and the two kept company. Its electrical resistance drops when light falls on it, which made the selenium cell the eye of early fax machines and light meters.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1818
Same family
Seleneseleniteselenology
In a sentence
Two Brazil nuts a day supply more selenium than most people need.