Editing Chemical symbol (section)

==History==
Earlier symbols for chemical elements stem from classical [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]] vocabulary. For some elements, this is because the material was known in ancient times, while for others, the name is a more recent invention. For example, Pb is the symbol for [[lead]] (''plumbum'' in Latin); Hg is the symbol for [[mercury (element)|mercury]] (''hydrargyrum'' in Greek); and He is the symbol for [[helium]] (a [[Neo-Latin]] name) because helium was not known in [[ancient Roman]] times. Some symbols come from other sources, like W for [[tungsten]] (''Wolfram'' in German) which was not known in Roman times.

A three-letter [[Systematic element name|temporary symbol]] may be assigned to a newly synthesized (or not yet synthesized) element. For example, "Uno" was the temporary symbol for [[hassium]] (element 108) which had the temporary name of ''unniloctium'', based on the digits of its atomic number. There are also some historical symbols that are no longer officially used.