Chemical element
Chemical elements are given a unique chemical symbol. Chemical symbols are used all over the world. This means that, no matter which language is spoken, there is no confusion about what the symbol means. Chemical symbols of elements almost always come from their English or Latin names. For example, carbon has the chemical symbol 'C', and sodium has chemical symbol 'Na', after the Latin natrium. Tungsten is called 'W' after its German name, wolfram. 'Au' is the symbol for gold and it comes from the Latin word for gold, aurum. Another symbol which comes from Latin is 'Ag'. This is the element silver and it comes from the Latin argentum. Lead's symbol, 'Pb', comes from the Latin plumbum and the English word plumber derives from this as pipes used to be made out of lead. Some more recently discovered elements were named after famous people, like einsteinium, which was named after Albert Einstein.