Thallium Definition & Meaning

Origin of Thallium

Coined based on Ancient Greek θαλλός (thallos, “green branch") (after the color of the radiation spectra).

From Wiktionary
thall(o)– (from its green spectral line) –ium

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Rubidium, caesium, thallium, indium and gallium were first discovered by means of this instrument; the study of the rare earths is greatly facilitated, and the composition of the heavenly bodies alone determinable by it.
In 1861, while conducting a spectroscopic examination of the residue left in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, he observed a bright green line which had not been noticed previously, and by following up the indication thus given he succeeded in isolating a new element, thallium, a specimen of which was shown in public for the first time at the exhibition of 1862.
All carbonates, except those of the alkali metals and of thallium, are insoluble in water; and the majority decompose when heated strongly, carbon dioxide being liberated and a residue of an oxide of the metal left.
After these follow first thallium and then lead, the latter being the softest of the metals used in the arts.
By the joint action of water and air, thallium, lead, bismuth are oxidized, with formation of more or less sparingly soluble hydroxides (ThHO, PbH 2 O 2, BiH303), which, in the presence of carbonic acid, pass into still less soluble basic carbonates.

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