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Added 10 October 2026

magnesium

/ˌmæɡˈniːzi.əm/ noun

In Latin: magnesium Coined: a coined word, by Humphry Davy Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about magnesium at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A light silver-white ductile bivalent metallic element; in pure form it burns with brilliant white flame; occurs naturally only in combination (as in magnesite and dolomite and carnallite and spinel and olivine).

Origin

From New Latin magnēsium, from Ancient Greek μαγνησία (magnēsía), after Μαγνησία (Magnēsía, “Magnesia”), a region in Thessaly. Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy, as a modification of his original suggestion, magnium.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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