Elementymology & Elements Multidict by Peter van der Krogt
Calcium
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Multilingual dictionary
Language key
Indo-European
— Germanic
Calcium en nl da
Kalzium de lb
Kalcium da² sv
Kalsium af fy no fo
Kalsín is
— Italic
Calcium fr
Calcio es gl it
Calci ca oc fur
Cálcio pt
Calciu ro
Caltsiumu arm
— Slavic
Кальций [kal'cij] ru
Кальцiй [kal'cij] uk
Кальцый [kal'cyj] by
Wapń pl
Kalcéń kas
Vápník cs sk
Kalcij sl hr bos
Калциjум [kalcijum] sr
Калциум [kalcium] mk
Калций [kalcij] bg
— Baltic
Kalcis lt
Kalcijs lv
Kalcijan sud
— Celtic
Calsiwm cy
Cailciam ga gd
Kelkium gv
Calcyum kw
Kalsiom br
— Other Indo-European
Ασβεστιο [asvestio] el
Kalcium sq
Կալցիում [kalts'ium] hy
— Indo-Iranian
Кальций [kal'cij] oss
Uralic
Kalsium fi
Kaltsium et
Kalcium hu
Пургев [purgev] mok
Altaic
Kalsiyum tr
Кальций [kal'cij] kk uz
Kal'ci' tg
Кальци [kal'ci] mn
Other (Europe)
Kaltzioa eu
კალციუმი [kalc'iumi] ka
East- & South-Asia
カルシウム [karushiumu] ja
鈣 [gai4 / koi3] zh (mand./cant.)
칼슘 [kalsyum] ko
Canxi vi
แคลเซียม [khaelsiam/khaensiam] th
Kalsium ms
கலசியம் [kalciyam] ta
Afro-Asiatic
كلسيوم [kalsiyūm] ar
Kalsjum mt
סידן [sidan] he
Africa
Kalisi sw
Artificial
Kalcio eo
New names
Calcion (CLC) aen
Limestoneium dms
Appearance, some properties, a memory peg and a summary of discovery and etymology
A gray-white metal which oxidizes on exposure to the atmosphere forming a dark gray/black coating.
m.p. 839.2 ºC; 1542.56 ºF
b.p. 1484 ºC; 2703 ºF
density 1.55 g/cc; 96.76 pound/cubic foot 		memory peg
1808 Sir Humphry Davy, England
calx = limestone (Latin)

History & Etymology

Calcium oxide or lime has been known from a very remote period, and was for a long time considered to be an elementary or undecomposable earth. This view was questioned in the eighteenth century, and in 1808 Sir Humphry Davy was able to show that lime was a combination of a metal and oxygen. In the paper read for the Royal Society of London on 30 June 1808, Davy referred to the new alkaline earth metals in this way (note):

Calcium was named so from its occurrence in limestone (Latin "calx"). The Latin "calx" is used for lime (CaO, quicklime), limestone (CaCO3, calcium carbonate). Originally "calx" was used for every metal oxide (earth), the result of roasting a metal or mineral.

Alternative names

In several other languages the name of the element is derived from the native name for limestone:
  • Greek: the antique word asbestoV [asvestos] = quicklime.
  • Polish: wapien = limestone, derived from a pre-Slavic word wap (paint, dye). The Czech and Slovak words will have the same derivation.
Grottes de Sare, Basque coast, France.
Calcium deposits cover the walls creating with stalagmites and stalactites.
Photo Saraphina Mosey →

Chemistianity 1873
JTYAN
CALCIUM (combined) forms the Frame Metal
Of Animals and the Shelly exuviæ
From wondrous Coral Zoophytes, and Molusca.
Calcium is a light yellow metal,
Exposed to Air it rapidly oxides,
'Tis ductile, and mall'able to paper thickness;
It burns brilliantly when heated in Oxygen,
Chlorine, or the vapour of Bromine or Sulphur.
J. Carrington Sellars, Chemistianity, 1873, p. 119
Further reading
  • Mary Elvira Weeks, Discovery of the Elements, comp. rev. by Heny M. Leicester (Easton, Pa.: Journal of Chemical Education, 1968), pp. 479-484.
Sources Index of Persons Index of Alleged Elements

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© Peter van der Krogt