potassium

English

Chemical element
K
Previous: argon (Ar)
Next: calcium (Ca)

Etymology

Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1807, from potassa + -ium, from Dutch potasch (potash).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: pətăs′ēəm, IPA(key): /pəˈtæsiəm/
  • (file)

Noun

potassium (usually uncountable, plural potassiums)

  1. A soft, waxy, silvery reactive metal that is never found unbound in nature; an element (symbol K) with an atomic number of 19 and atomic weight of 39.0983. The symbol is derived from the Latin kalium.
  2. (countable) A single atom of this element.
Potassium sample

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  • Potassa and Potassium in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1974 edition.
  • Potassium on the British Royal Society of Chemistry's Online periodic table

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pɔ.ta.sjɔm/
  • (file)

Noun

potassium m (uncountable)

  1. potassium

Descendants

  • Lingala: potasu

Further reading

Interlingua

Noun

potassium (uncountable)

  1. potassium
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