jargonium

English

Etymology

From jargon +‎ -ium; see jargon (“a variety of zircon”). Doublet of zirconium.

Noun

jargonium (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) A rejected name for hafnium.
   • 1869 July 2, H. C. Sorby, “On jargonium: a new elementary substance associated with zirconium”, in The Chemical News and Journal of Industrial Science‎^[1]:

     These various spectra of jargonium are all of a very marked character, quite unlike those due to any other element in similar conditions.

   • 2014, Marco Fontani, The Lost Elements: The Periodic Table's Shadow Side‎^[2]:

     In the same year as the jargonium announcement, 1869, Arthur Herbert Church (1834–1915) announced the discovery of a new element associated with zircon.

   • 2016, A. Meadows, Science and Controversy: A Biography of Sir Norman Lockyer, Founder‎^[3], page 59:

     Sorby announced, in 1869, the discovery of a new element – Jargonium – by spectroscopic analysis, but was forced in the following year to withdraw his claim as it was found that the interpretation of the spectrum was more complicated than he had supposed.