•a white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light; the fifth most abundant element in the earth's crust; an important component of most plants and animals
Etymology tree Latin calx Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Italic *-om Latin -umder. English -ium English calcium Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, from Latin calx (“lime, limestone”) because it occurs in limestone. By surface analysis, calc- + -ium.