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Origin and history of chlorine

chlorine(n.)

nonmetallic element, the name coined 1810 by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy from Latinized form of Greek khlōros "pale green" (from PIE root *ghel- (2) "to shine," with derivatives denoting "green" and "yellow") + chemical suffix -ine (2). Named for its color. Discovered 1774, but known at first as oxymuriatic acid gas, or dephlogisticated marine acid.

also from 1810

Entries linking to chlorine

chloral(n.)

"colorless liquid formed by the action of chlorine on alcohol," apparently coined by German chemist Justus von Liebig in 1833 from elements from chlorine + alcohol. Later chiefly in chloral hydrate (1874).

chlorate(n.)

"salt of chloric acid," 1823; see chlorine + -ate (3)

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Trends of chlorine

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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chloroform
"trichloromethane," a volatile, colorless liquid used as an anaesthetic, 1835, from French chloroforme, a hybrid coined 1834 by French chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas (1800-1884) from chloro-, a combining form meaning "chlorine" (see chlorine), + formique "formic (acid)" (see formic
iodine
non-metallic element, 1814, formed by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy from French iode "iodine," which was coined 1812 by French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac from Greek iōeidēs "violet-colored" (from ion "the violet; dark blue flower;" see violet) + eidos "appearance" (see -o
halogen
general name for elements of the chlorine family, 1842, from Swedish, coined by Swedish chemist Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848), literally "salt-producer," from Greek hals "salt" (from PIE root *sal- "salt") + -gen "giving birth to" (see -gen); so called because a salt is
gas
1650s, from Dutch gas, probably from Greek khaos "empty space" (see chaos). The sound of Dutch "g" is roughly equivalent to that of Greek "kh." First used by Flemish chemist J.B. van Helmont (1577-1644), probably influenced by Paracelsus, who used khaos in an occult sense of "pro
sag
late 14c., saggen, "hang down unevenly," also in Middle English "sink, be mired, sink down," possibly from a Scandinavian source related to Old Norse sokkva "to sink," or from Middle Low German sacken "to settle, sink" (as dregs in wine), from denasalized derivative of Proto-Germ
element
c. 1300, "earth, air, fire, or water; one of the four things regarded by the ancients as the constituents of all things," from Old French element (10c.), from Latin elementum "rudiment, first principle, matter in its most basic form" (translating Greek stoikheion), origin and ori
atomic
"pertaining to atoms," 1670s as a philosophical term (see atomistic); scientific sense dates from 1811, from atom + -ic. Atomic number is attested from 1821; atomic mass is from 1848. Atomic energy is recorded by 1906 in the modern sense (as intra-atomic energy from 1903). March
number
c. 1300, "sum, aggregate of a collection," from Anglo-French noumbre, Old French nombre and directly from Latin numerus "a number, quantity," from PIE root *nem- "assign, allot; take." The meaning "written symbol or figure of arithmetic value" is from late 14c. The meaning "singl
guild
also gild, early 13c., yilde (spelling later influenced by Old Norse gildi "guild, brotherhood"), a semantic fusion of Old English gegield "guild, brotherhood," and gield "service, offering; payment, tribute; compensation," from Proto-Germanic *geldja- "payment, contribution" (so
conscience
c. 1200, "faculty of knowing what is right," originally especially to Christian ethics, later "awareness that the acts for which one feels responsible do or do not conform to one's ideal of right," later (late 14c.) more generally, "sense of fairness or justice, moral sense." Thi

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