Oganesson

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An exceptionally rare synthetic element with atomic number 118 and symbol Og ; recognized for being the heaviest element currently known ; first synthesized by a Russian-American team in 2002
2. A man-made element bearing the symbol Og and atomic number 118 ; noted for its extreme radioactivity and rapid decay ; named in honor of physicist Yuri Oganessian for his contributions to nuclear science
3. The element designated by Og and atomic number 118 ; famous for being a noble gas that may display unique chemical behaviors unlike lighter noble gases ; has no practical uses due to its fleeting existence

Etymology: Oganesson is one of the few elements named after a living person. It honors Yuri Oganessian, a Russian-Armenian physicist born in 1933 who spent his career studying superheavy elements. The name was promulgated by IUPAC, the international body that approves element names, in June 2016, and it was chosen on the recommendation of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, two groups whose work helped establish the element. The name is built from "Oganessian," the adjectival form of the physicist's surname, plus the suffix "-on." That ending is a deliberate choice. Elements named with "-ium" are typically metals, while "-on" marks the noble gases, such as neon and argon. Oganesson sits in the same group as those gases, so chemists gave it the matching ending. The surname itself traces back to the Armenian patronymic "Hovhannes," the Armenian form of "John," which comes ultimately from the Hebrew "Yōḥānān." The "-ian" ending marks descent from or association with the named man, a pattern common in Armenian family names.