Vanadio, itrio, ángstrom… About scientific terms of Nordic origin in Spanish

Abstract

In the 18th century significant advancements occurred in science, especially in the field of natural sciences and technology. New knowledge and recent discoveries in Chemistry and Physics needed to be assigned a name; words were needed for new minerals, elements, compounds, etc. Scientists, among whom some were Nordic, created new terms whereof various have Nordic roots. Several of these neologisms derive from the vocabulary of the Nordic Mythology (vanadium), others are based on the name of the place where the item was discovered (itrium) or the name of the discoverer (angstrom). The words
of Nordic origin soon entered other languages in their Latinized form and are today internationally used. Among other languages these have been adopted and adapted into Spanish in the period from 18th until the 20th century. In this article we shed light on the history of fifteen technical words of Nordic origin incorporated in Spanish. These words stand for chemical substances like scandium, hafnium, holmium, itrium, terbium, erbioum iterbium, nobelium, torium, tungstenium, vanadium, and physical phenomenes like angström, celsius, oersted and sievert.
Keywords: lexicology – loanwords – Nordic – scientific terms – Spanish