Trivial name of vitriol" (sulfuric acid), and "cream of tartar" (potassium bitartrate) borrowed their language from the kitchen. Many more names were based on color; for example, hematite, orpiment, and verdigris come from words meaning "blood-like stone", "gold pigment", and "green of Greece". Some names are based on their use. Lime is a general name for materials combining calcium with carbonates, oxides or hydroxides; the name comes from a root "sticking or adhering"; its earliest use was as mortar for construction. Water has several systematic names, including "oxidane" (the IUPAC name), "hydrogen oxide", and "dihydrogen monoxide" (DHMO). The latter was the basis
What Is a Nation? What Is a Nation? "What is a Nation?" ("Qu'est-ce qu'une nation?") is an 1882 lecture by French historian Ernest Renan (1823–1892), known for the statements that a nation is "a daily referendum", and that nations are based as much on what the people jointly forget, as what they remember. It is frequently quoted or anthologized in works of history or political science pertaining to nationalism and national identity. Renan wrote "What is a Nation" in order to symbolize the nationalism which was born in France as a result of the French Revolution of 1789. Renan begins his essay by noting