Page "Chemical element" Paragraph 42

The naming of various substances now known as elements precedes the atomic theory of matter, as names were given locally by various cultures to various minerals, metals, compounds, alloys, mixtures, and other materials, although at the time it was not known which chemicals were elements and which compounds.

As they were identified as elements, the existing names for anciently-known elements ( e. g., gold, mercury, iron ) were kept in most countries.

National differences emerged over the names of elements either for convenience, linguistic niceties, or nationalism.

For a few illustrative examples: German speakers use " Wasserstoff " ( water substance ) for " hydrogen ", " Sauerstoff " ( acid substance ) for " oxygen " and " Stickstoff " ( smothering substance ) for " nitrogen ", while English and some romance languages use " sodium " for " natrium " and " potassium " for " kalium ", and the French, Italians, Greeks, Portuguese and Poles prefer " azote / azot / azoto " ( from roots meaning " no life ") for " nitrogen ".