Searching for a name for a liquid metal

[Landis963]

Hey all, I'm making a new magic system, which relies on a deposit of a certain metal being implanted into would-be mages (with consent) and allowed to grow onto their bodies. However, I don't know what this metal should be called. I'm picturing a metal which is liquid at room temperature.

[Aetol]

Mercury, maybe ?

[Landis963]

Mercury, maybe ?

I tried "quicksilver" on my own, but it sounded cliche.

[jqavins]

"Magium" or "magicum" is kind of corny, but adequate. ("Magicum" has a certain problem if your players have an immaturity problem.)

Fluidium? Mana? Phlebtonium?

It would likely acquire slang names, like "mage juice" (same immaturity problem) or "liquid magic."

[Dusk Raven]

Obviously, Mercury being the only real-world metal that's liquid at room temperature, I thought of a play on that.

Pluto.

A little-known facet of Pluto and Hades is their connection to the underground - including the wealth that lies therein.

Other than that, some play on a Greek or Latin word for blood. Sanguitite, perhaps?

[Nifft]

I tried "quicksilver" on my own, but it sounded cliche.

Quicksilver is obviously poisonous.

This is quickbronze.

[jqavins]

Quicksilver is obviously poisonous.

This is quickbronze.
Quickaurum? Aurumflow? Aurum aqua?

[Oneris]

Ichor is the golden liquid said to be the blood of the gods and the bronze colossus Talos, but it got corrupted into meaning 'watery pus' by Christians as a take-that against the Greek Gods.

Petrichor is an obscure term meaning 'the smell of soil after the rain', but taken in pieces means Ichor of Stone, which might work for your purposes.

Azoth is an alchemical universal solvent and panacea, and comes from the arabic word for Mercury.

Hydragyros (water-silver) is the original latin name for mercury and where the symbol Hg comes from. so building from that, Hydraurum for liquid gold?

[Landis963]

I always assumed that the metal would be silvery, although it's early enough in the worldbuilding process that it doesn't quite matter, really. Thanks so much everyone for the suggestions, and please keep them coming!

[jqavins]

Ichor is the...
Petrichor is an obscure term meaning...
Azoth is an alchemical...
Hydragyros (water-silver) is the original...
Well done, madam.

Side note, hydragyros was Latinized from Greek. Hat it been Latin originally it would probably have been something like argentum aqua more or less, and it's element symbol would be A. And let me tell you, when you're trying to spell words with element symbols an A alone would be much more useful than Hg.

[Yanagi]

I always assumed that the metal would be silvery, although it's early enough in the worldbuilding process that it doesn't quite matter, really. Thanks so much everyone for the suggestions, and please keep them coming!

People have already suggested cognates for mercury the elements, but Mercury is also a potential name source: gloss Roman Mercury into Greek, Hermes . Dig through the Wikipedia (under Hermes) and you can find all kind of evocative Greek epithets that could be tinkered with (given a ium suffix to make it an element, for example.

Doing my own perusal, I noticed the word hermaion--which glosses as "a lucky find"--and thought it would be a great word for rare substance.

If you have a sense of the key properties of that metal, or a sense of its primary function, that's also a way to get ideas. Like--a metal or alloy for sword-making: blade = cuspis, so cuspine.

Mind you, the actual stories of how elements and minerals get their names are wild. Cobalt derives from the bluish minerals that German miners called "kobold ore."

[jqavins]

Mind you, the actual stories of how elements and minerals get their names are wild. Cobalt derives from the bluish minerals that German miners called "kobold ore."
And the kobolds we all know and love from those same miners; they are the troublesome creatures in the mine that were responsible for mine accidents, and also for placing this false ore - false because the miners were after silver - in the mine. Thus, the metal that came from it was "kobold metal," or cobolt. There were other kinds of kobolds in German mythology, but these mine kobolds are what became the D&D monster.

[Erberor]

Well, you could go with something like Arcanus, Primal Iron, Thaumium, Stoneblood (as in it comes from stones that "bleed" the liquid metal or something), Arcanium, any other idea starting with Arcan-, Primus...and that's about all I've got without blatantly ripping names out of video games or books.

[AceOfFools]

Aurichalcum/orichalcum, the mythic golden metal of Atlantis. Has the advantage over mithril/my thrilled of being a tested to in real world mythology instead of being a product of Tolkien.

Thaumicum. Meaning magic material (assuming I didn't botch the linguistics).

Atium, the extremely impotant, mystical 10th metal of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. Allows people who eat it to see the future (destroying the metal in the process).

Talder, from solder, any of a variety of low melting point (but solid at room temperature) alloys used in manufacturing computer parts. Bonus points for often being silvery in color when melted.

[jqavins]

Talder, from solder, any of a variety of low melting point (but solid at room temperature) alloys used in manufacturing computer parts. Bonus points for often being silvery in color when melted.
Used in manufacturing any sort of electronics and wiring, plumbing, jewelery, and lots of other metal work. In any case, solder is always, as you described, a low melting metal, but not room temperature liquid. (It wouldn't be much good of it were.) And he wants a room temperature liquid.

On the other hand... Landis, what about something solid at room temp, but liquid at body temp. Gallium is like that, so something like Gallium-X might work. (OK, that's cheesey, but you get the idea.) Thaumogallium? Galliomana? Or just gallium, which happens to be a magical material in this world.

[Landis963]

On the other hand... Landis, what about something solid at room temp, but liquid at body temp. Gallium is like that, so something like Gallium-X might work. (OK, that's cheesey, but you get the idea.) Thaumogallium? Galliomana? Or just gallium, which happens to be a magical material in this world.

Ooh, cool idea! I'll run it by my co-writer when next we meet. We've been calling it Argine ("ar-jine") after the silver idea, but there's still time to change it before the players start in on it.

[Rogem]

In Finnish, mercury is called elohopea - literally livesilver or living silver. Pronunciation you're better off looking for on wiktionary or some such, if you want to use the native word.

[Eldan]

Find a few gods that aren't used yet? There's no Junium, Minervium, Liberium, Apollonium, Vulcanium.

Or how about naming it after a Titan? "Rhea" has the potential etymology of "flowing". "Rhean", "Rheatine", "Rheon"? Or for other, non-greco-roman water gods, Tiamatine, Nereon, Proteum, Glaucum. Glaukos is also fitting since he is a god of not only water, but also prophecy, born mortal and made immortal by essentially alchemy.

For something living inside a body, I really like Ichor, the blood of the gods.

[jqavins]

Find a few gods that aren't used yet? There's no Junium, Minervium, Liberium, Apollonium, Vulcanium.

Or how about naming it after a Titan? "Rhea" has the potential etymology of "flowing". "Rhean", "Rheatine", "Rheon"? Or for other, non-greco-roman water gods, Tiamatine, Nereon, Proteum, Glaucum. Glaukos is also fitting since he is a god of not only water, but also prophecy, born mortal and made immortal by essentially alchemy.

For something living inside a body, I really like Ichor, the blood of the gods.
I like the gods idea. How about gods of magic? Odinium? Hekalium? Enkinium? Hecatenium? Etc.

[lunaticfringe]

witchsilver, wyrdon, wyrdium, weavesteel, source stone, doomfyre (if improperly administered you, and anyone nearby, die in a hellish arcane blaze. this may have been a common outcome is the distant past.)

[YossarianLives]

Difficulttoobtainium?

[Landis963]

Difficulttoobtainium?

She put the kibosh on names of that ilk as soon as I suggested the concept in the first place. In fact, her exact words were:


We're not calling it "unobtanium," right?

[Eldan]

I like the gods idea. How about gods of magic? Odinium? Hekalium? Enkinium? Hecatenium? Etc.

I'd go Egyptian, but every version of Thothium I can think of sounds weird. (Tahutium? Tehutium?). That said, Imhotep. Imhotane? Imhotium? Imhotite?

[jqavins]

I'd go Egyptian, but every version of Thothium I can think of sounds weird. (Tahutium? Tehutium?). That said, Imhotep. Imhotane? Imhotium? Imhotite?
One of my suggestions, Hekalium, is from Heka (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heka_(god)), Egyptian god of magic, at least according to Wikipedia. Also, I wonder if there is an Egyptian equivalent to the -um or -ium sufix.

[GungHo]

Final Fantasy called it magicite.

Witchsteel/Witchsilver could work, too.

[Xuc Xac]

I'd go Egyptian, but every version of Thothium I can think of sounds weird. (Tahutium? Tehutium?). That said, Imhotep. Imhotane? Imhotium? Imhotite?

In general: The -ium suffix is used for elements. The -ane suffix is used for organic compounds with only hydrogen and carbon with single bonds. The -ite suffix is used for minerals.

[jqavins]

The -ite suffix is used for minerals.
And some inorganic salts. (Those with complex anions whose central atom is in the lesser of two oxidation states, or the least of three, or the next to least of four.)
And, not contradicting Xuc Xac, I emphasize his use of the word "generally;" there are occasional exceptions, usually based on old, traditional names for various things.

[Eldan]

I'm aware, I've had chemistry up to the master's level. I just choose to ignore it if a name sounds better.

[jqavins]

I'm aware, I've had chemistry up to the master's level.
Ah, hence the avatar in a lab coat?

[enderlord99]

I'd go Egyptian, but every version of Thothium I can think of sounds weird. (Tahutium? Tehutium?).

"Thothite" doesn't sound that weird to me.