DictionaryRoot: -ium
Latin
-ium
an ending used to name elements and substances
Forms
- -ium
Origin
Scientific naming reused Latin -ium, an ending in many nouns, rather than inheriting an ancient word meaning “chemical element.”
Note
The ending does not mean “metal”: some element names in -ium name nonmetals.
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noun
rhodium
ROH-dee-um/ˈrəʊdiəm/
A rare, hard, silvery metallic chemical element.
Etymology
The rose root refers to the color of solutions containing rhodium, rather than the silvery metal itself. The ending marks it as an element name.