potassium

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A soft, waxy, silvery reactive metal that is never found unbound in nature; an element with atomic number 19 and atomic weight of 39.0983.
  2. A single atom of this element.

Pronunciation

pətăs′ēəm /pəˈtæsiəm/ en-us-potassium.ogg /pɵˈʈæʃɪəm/

Word forms

potassium potassiums

Etymology

Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1807, from potassa (a Latinized form of potash) + -ium.

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