# How did silver get its name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308 "2005-04-08T00:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vater10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@vater10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vater10)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/1 "2005-04-08T00:17:55Z")
My daughter needs to know this for a school project. Thank you in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/2 "2005-04-08T00:21:02Z")
Has she tried checking a dictionary? It might be in there. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/3 "2005-04-08T00:21:43Z")
This should help: > **[silver | Search Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=silver)** > > The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible... ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/4 "2005-04-08T00:32:00Z")
> [@vater10](#): > > My daughter needs to know this for a school project. Thank you in advance. From [Silver | Definition of Silver by Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=silver:) > [@](#): > > Etymology: Middle English, from Old English seolfor; akin to Old High German silbar silver, Lithuanian sidabras The OED says the Germanic root \*silubr- (the \* means it is a reconstructed form that is not attested) is “related indeterminately to various Balto-Slavic forms, perhaps all ultimately of Oriental origin”. Heaven knows what they mean by “Oriental”. It’s serebra in Russian and srebra in Bulgarian. ---
**Author:** ![vater10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@vater10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vater10)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/5 "2005-04-08T00:34:40Z")
:smack: Apparently, technology has made me forget to use basic reference books. Thank you. You have been very helpful 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/6 "2005-04-08T00:38:10Z")
John Reid thought it was a good name for a white horse, and it tied in with the metal he used for his bullets. ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/7 "2005-04-08T00:50:41Z")
[This](http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/) website has the origins of each element name, the name in many languages, and stories about how the elements were discovered. It’s too bad your daughter had to do silver, which has an obscure origin. Some of the origins of the element names are quite interesting. Cobalt is named after goblins (kobolds) that were thought to live in mines, and nickel is named after the Devil. Nickel was named _kupfernickel_, ‘Old Nick’s copper’ or ‘Devil’s copper’ by a frustrated miner who found it while searching for copper. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/8 "2005-04-08T09:03:39Z")
> [@vanderkrogt.net](#): > > Thus kupfernickel (…) can be translated as “old Nick’s Copper” (or “Devil’s Copper”). FWIW, Kupfernickel does not mean Nick’s copper in German. The word order’s wrong. Nick(el)'s copper would be Nickelkupfer, not the other way round. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/9 "2005-04-08T12:14:25Z")
I always liked copper, which was originally found on Kypros, or Cyprus - as, of course, were cypresses. You’ve gotta love eytomology. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/10 "2005-04-08T16:36:04Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > John Reid thought it was a good name for a white horse, and it tied in with the metal he used for his bullets. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-silver-get-its-name/298308/11 "2005-04-08T22:53:28Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > John Reid thought it was a good name for a white horse, and it tied in with the metal he used for his bullets. Actually, Maximus in **Gladiator** got there first: one of his horses was named Argentum.