Science, ideas & the artsFrom names to words

ammonia

Salt deposits near the oracle of Amun at Siwa in the Libyan desert were called 'salt of Ammon', Chaucer's sal armoniak; in 1782 the Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman named the gas made from it ammonia, and chemistry carried it to every language.

Weakest linkCertain

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2400 BCEAncient Egyptian

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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