September 22, 2014 Monday "vanadium" "Vanadis"

Reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary Backwards

September 22, 2014   Monday

blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com

email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com

You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com

The last post was the end of the "W's."   Here is a list of the words:

W:

     West
     westerly
     Weltanschauung
     Weltschmerz
     wettability
     whoops
     window
     wingding
     wispish
     witch of agnesi
     witenagamote
     Woden
     woodnymph
     wow
     wyvern

   My vote for the most poetic word: wyvern.

   The "V's"…24 pages

V:  the symbol for Vanadium

vanadium: [Old Norse Vanadis  or Freyja]

    This soft metallic element  is often used in high speed drills made of steel alloys.  It was part of the chassis in the original Model T cars, for example.  

    Another interesting Norse etymology: because the various salts and alloys of vanadium turned beautiful colors, it was named in 1830 by the Swedish chemist Nils Sefstrom after the Scandinavian goddess of beauty and fertility "Vanadis," also known as "Freyja."

     **Nils Sefstrom has a glacier named after him: Sefströmbreen, which may be a dubious honor in this age of global warming.