32. Germanium - Elementymology & Elements Multidict

Elementymology & Elements Multidict

This site comprises 120 pages of text and photos, one for each element, and several pages for access. – For captions or explanatory texts move your mouse over illustrations, links etc.

32
Germanium
Germanium – Germanium – Germanium – Germánio – ゲルマニウム – Германий – 鍺
Ge
Multilingual dictionary

Indo-European
Germanium Latin

— Germanic
Germanium Afrikaans
Germanium Danish
Germanium German
Germanium English
Germanium Faroese
Germanium Frisian (West)
German Icelandic
Germanium Luxembourgish
Germanium Dutch
Germanium Norwegian
Germanium Swedish

— Italic
Chermanio Aragonese
Ghermaniumu Aromanian
Xermaniu Asturian
Germani Catalan
Germánio Spanish
Germanium French
Gjermani Friulian
Xermanio Galician
Germanio Italian
Germàni Lombard
Germani Occitan
Germânio Portuguese
Germaniu Romanian - Moldovan

— Slavic
Гермаиий [Germaiij] Bulgarian
Germanij[um] Bosnian
Германій [hermanij] Belarusian
Germanium Czech
Germanij Croatian
Germón Kashubian
Германиум [Germanium] Macedonian
German Polish
Германий [Germanij] Russian
Germánium Slovak
Germanij Slovenian
Германијум [Germanijum] Serbian
Германій [hermanij] Ukrainian

— Baltic
Germanis Lithuanian
Ģermānijs Latvian
Germanis Samogitian

— Celtic
Germaniom Breton
Germaniwm Welsh
Gearmáiniam Gaelic (Irish)
Gearmainiam Gaelic (Scottish)
Germaanium Gaelic (Manx)
Germanyum Cornish

— Other Indo-European
Γερμανιο [germanio] Greek
.երմանիում [(g)ermanium] Armenian
Germanium[i] Albanian

— Indo-Iranian/Iranian
Germanyûm Kurdish
Германий [germanij] Ossetian
Германий [Germani'] Tajik

— Indo-Iranian/Indo-Aryan
জার্মেনিয়াম [jārmeniẏāma] Bengali
ژرمانیم [žrmanym] Persian
જર્મેનિયમનો [jarmeniyamano] Gujarati
जर्मेनियम [jarmeniyama] Hindi

Finno-Ugric
Germaanium Estonian
Germanium Finnish
Germánium Hungarian
Германий [Germanij] Komi
Германий [Germanij] Mari
Германи [germani] Moksha
Germaanium Võro

Altaic
Germanium Azerbaijani
Германи [Germani] Chuvash
Германий [germanij] Kazakh
Германий [Germanij] Kyrgyz
Германи [germani] Mongolian
Germanyum Turkish
گېرمانىي [germaniy] Uyghur
Germaniy Uzbek

Other (Europe)
Germanioa Basque
გერმანიუმი [germaniumi] Georgian

Afro-Asiatic
جرمانيوم [jarmāniyūm] Arabic
גרמניום [germanium] Hebrew
Ġermanju[m] Maltese

Sino-Tibetan
Châ (鍺) Hakka
ゲルマニウム [gerumaniumu] Japanese
게르마늄, 2저마늄 [gereumanyum, jeomanyum] Korean
เจอร์เมเนียม [choemēniam] Thai
Gecmani Vietnamese
[zhe3 / je2] Chinese

Malayo-Polynesian
Germanio Cebuano
Germanium Indonesian
Germanium Māori
Germanium Malay

Other Asiatic
ജെര്‍മേനിയം [jermēniyam] Malayalam
ஜெர்மானியம் [jermāṉiyam] Tamil

Africa
Jemani Lingala
Germaniamo Sesotho
Gerimani Swahili

North-America
Germanio Nahuatl

South-America
Germanyu Quechua

Creole
Germanimi Sranan Tongo

Artificial
Germanio Esperanto

New names
Germon Atomic Elements
Winklium Dorseyville
memory peg

Very reflective and brittle semi-metal element
melting point 937 °C; 1719 °F
boiling point 2830 °C; 5126 °F
density 5.32 g/cc; 332.30 pounds/cubic foot
1886 Clemens Alexander Winkler, Germany
Germania = Germany (Latin)

History & Etymology

In his report on "The Periodic Law of the Chemical Elements", in 1869, Mendeleyev predicted the existence of several unknown elements. Among them was one which was supposed to be just bellow silicon and, for that reason, he called it eka-silicon. Mendeleyev studied several minerals, although unsuccessfully, seeking for that new element 32.

In the summer of 1885, in the Himmelsfürst mine in Brand-Erbisdorf (near Freiberg, Saxony) a new mineral was found that was called argyrodite. Professor Clemens Alexander Winkler (1838-1904) of the Freiberg Bergakademie was asked to do a quantitative analysis. He found Silver, Sulphur, Iron oxide, Zinc and an element unknown till that time (eka-silicon). In February of 1886, Winkler was sure of the discovery of this new element.

Winkler intended to name element Neptunium, bearing in mind that the history of its discovery was similar to the history of the discovery of the planet Neptune. Just as the existence of the new element was predicted, the existence of the planet was predicted in 1845 by the mathematicians John Couch Adams and Urbain Leverrier for the fact that Uranus was being pulled slightly out of position in its orbit. James Challis started searching for it in July 1846 and sighted the planet 23 September 1846.

However, it turned out that the name Neptunium was already given to an element (cf. Niobium) and Winkler named the new metal Germanium in honor of his fatherland. See his (note) .

This name caused sharp objections from some scientists. One indicated that this name sounded as the name of a flower (geranium). In the flame of the disputes Raymond proposed into the joke to name new element Angularium, thus angular (causing debates) - or, angle (in German "Winkel") referring to the name of the discoverer. However, Mendeleyev in his letter to Winkler decisively supported the name Germanium.

Germania
Germania was the Latin name for a geographical area of land on the east bank of the Rhine (inner Germania), which included regions of Sarmatia as well as an area under Roman control on the west bank of the Rhine. The name came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it from a Gallic term for the peoples east of the Rhine that probably meant 'neighbor'.

Germania was defined by Rome as having two regions: Lesser Germania, west and south of the Rhine, occupied by the Romans, and Greater Germania (Magna Germania) east of the Rhine. The occupied Germania was divided into two provinces: Germania Inferior (Lower Germania) (approximately corresponding to the southern part of the present-day Low Countries) and Germania Superior (Upper Germania) (approximately corresponding to present-day Switzerland and Alsace). The Romans under Augustus began to conquer and defeat the Germania Magna in 12 BC, having the Legati (generals) Germanicus and Tiberius leading the Legions. By AD 6, all of Germania up to the River Elbe was temporarily pacified by the Romans as well as being occupied by them. The Roman plan to complete the conquest and incorporate all of Magna Germania into the Roman Empire was frustrated when Rome was defeated by the German tribesmen in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. Augustus then effected Roman withdrawal from Magna Germania (completed by AD 16) and established the boundary of the Roman Empire as being the Rhine and the Danube.

'Germany' in English and similar names in other languages are derived from Germania, though the country's own inhabitants call it Deutschland. Several modern languages use the name Germania including Hebrew (גרמניה), Bulgarian (Германия), Italian, Greek (Γερμανία), Romanian, Russian (Германия), Albanian and Armenian. (note).

Further reading
  • Mary Elvira Weeks, Discovery of the Elements, comp. rev. by Henry M. Leicester (Easton, Pa.: Journal of Chemical Education, 1968), pp.655-662.


Sources Index of Persons Index of Alleged Elements